Meteor Garden my version
by mecheko
Summary: I know this story is totally differ from the real one and some thinks that Lei is a bit agressive in this story, but I wanted Lei to be a bit lively. Keep on reading. To those who reads my fic, thank you very much (especially you Lian).
1. Losing and Getting

Chapter 1: Losing and Getting  
  
"Ni yau chi na li? Wei! NI YAU CHI NA LI?"  
  
He ignored the question and kept walking, away from all of them. He felt so fueled up, like he's going to explode. Clenching his jaw, he tried to control the anger dwelled up inside him.  
  
The incident 10 minutes ago kept on appearing like a replay in his mind, again and again. He shook his head, trying to push the image away. Never had he ever felt like this. He had always been able to keep his feelings to himself, but, today he lost it.  
  
Seeing him kissing her, holding her by the waist, not letting go even for a split second, and whispered to her ear had made him jealous, really green- eyed with envy. Why her? Why him? The same question lingered through his mind. He didn't have the answer.  
  
"What the heck is wrong with him? I still haven't get to the best part yet. Always with his swing moods. Oh well! Here's the good news..Ah Si's coming back to Taiwan next week! He messaged me last night. Man, it has been 3 years since we last saw him. F4's back in the game! Yeah!!" Xi Men blurted out excitedly.  
  
"Are you sure? Really? Oh yeah! Way to go Ah Si!" exclaimed Mei Xuo.  
  
He went to the rooftop, the most deserted place he knew in the whole of Ying De, and sat on the railing of the roof edge. His mind was still on the questions. He adored her, liked her, and even loved her since he was 6 years old! How can she not see it? Didn't she's the only one able to read him? To understand him?  
  
Ever since she came back from France last month, he had been in such a good mood. But, last 2 days has changed it all. Teng Tang Jing, the girl he is in love with, together with Mei Zuo, his best friend, announced their new change of relationship in front of Xi Men and him at VS.  
  
That announcement has broken his heart into pieces. It felt like it has shattered to the ground and spread out into tiny bits. He didn't know how or when it could be mend back as a whole. He was crushed! From that day onwards, he was able to control his emotion and put on a good show, being ignorant and cold as always, only, to lose it today! He tried being happy for those two important people in his life, but deep down, he was hurt. Seeing them together has hurt him more than he could have imagined.  
  
"You better be careful, you know." A voice heard from his left side. He turned and squinted to see who it was. A small figure belonged to a girl with two long braided hair came to his view. The girl was looking straight at him, with a curious look on her face.  
  
He noticed a book on her hand. 'She must have come here to study', he told himself. He positioned his gaze back to the scenery in front of him. The girl approached him and stands by his side.  
  
"You're not thinking of committing suicide, are you? Because, even if you do, the height is still not enough to kill you instantly. You would probably end up on a wheelchair or becomes a vegetable. That would be worst on you and your family. Such a burden you'll put on them."  
  
He looked back to the girl and snapped, "I'm not that stupid."  
  
She gave out a faint smile, taken aback by his tone. "That's a relieved. Bye now, take care." Ignoring the girl, he continued his stare towards the view ahead of him.  
  
~~  
  
"Where could have that Lei go to? He's still not here! Have you tried calling him, Xi Men?" asked Mei Zuo.  
  
"I already did, 18 times! I've left a message on his phone. He's probably on his way here," Xi Men explained.  
  
"Where's Jing? Aren't you supposed to come here with her, since she's your girlfriend now? The two of you really shocked Lei and me with the announcement. When did you two start having those feelings? How come I missed it? You're really cunning, Mei Zuo," asked Xi Men, started to interrogate and get the scoop from Mei Zuo.  
  
Taking the glass of champagne, he sniggered and took a sip. "Jing would be a little late. She has an appointment with her agent. Emm. you want to know the juicy part, eh? Well, remember the time I went to that stupid wedding arrangement at France? I finally was able to escape from those meetings on the second day. That was the same day that I bumped into Jing. At first, it was nothing. It was the same way as before, you know, whenever I'm around her. She's the big sister. But then, maybe because it was just the two of us, those feelings changed a bit. I felt something for her and, you know how I am, so I acted upon it. Who knew that she felt the same for me? The rest, well, as it is now, we're finally in a relationship. Sorry for keeping it a secret, but we had just finally agreed on going steady last week," cleared Mei Zuo.  
  
Xi Men grabbed Mei Zuo on the shoulder and playfully punched him on the arm. "You lucky bastard! So, how was it, eh? Magnificent? Incredible?" Mei Zuo winked and grinned. "In plain words, I couldn't get enough sleep each time!" The both of them laughed heartily to that comment.  
  
~~  
  
"Eh! You're still here? It's already 8 at night. Why are you still here? The college has already been closed." The voice startled Lei. He turned around and focused on the person behind him. The figure move towards him slowly. It was the same girl as the one in the afternoon.  
  
"What about you?" he asked, flatly. "Can I sit? You haven't moved since afternoon, right? You must be famished. Want to share my bread?" asked the girl, handing out half of her bread towards him. He hesitated for a moment, and then took it.  
  
"I like to come here every mid of the month to gaze at the moon. Did you know that you could see an old man on the surface of the moon? There was once a story that I heard about the old man. A thousand years ago, it was told, that the old man is still seen standing straight and the beard is not that long either, means, that he is still young and healthy. But, now he has already became a hunchback and depended on a stick to stand. They even say that if he could no longer stand, then that would be the end of the universe. It made you feel a little spooky, right?" said the girl, while eating the half part of her bread.  
  
"Look! There's the moon! Can you see it? He's there, on the upper right side of the moon," exclaimed the girl, pointing towards the moon.  
  
He lifted his head towards the direction of the moon. They gaze at the moon for quite some time in silence, before the girl stood up and bid farewell. "Don't stay here to late. The guard will make his rounds later. Got to go to work now, bye."  
  
He just sat there, static for another 15 minutes, then stood up and walked down. He felt much better then he was before. The girl has eased his pain a bit, just by accompanying him. Her high spirits and talkativeness has made him forgets his own frustration.  
  
'I wonder who she is', he wonders. He took out his mobile phone and switched it on; wanted to call his driver to pick him up. "Tit.Tit..Tit.Tit," his phone beeped, indicating he has SMS. After reading the SMS, he sighed.  
  
There are two SMS, one from Xi Men; reminding him of their group meeting at VS, and the other are from Jing; wanting to have a conversation with him. He has a pretty good idea what the conversation is all about. Jing must've noticed the changes in his behavior. After all, she's the one with perceptive eyes, especially when it comes to him.  
  
He doesn't think that he's ready for it yet. Deleting all the messages, he called for his driver. "I need a really good, long, undisturbed sleep after what has happened today," he muttered.  
  
~~  
  
"He sat there, unmoved for 7 hours? What's wrong with him? He must've a lot in his mind. Well, it is the best place to think and run away from the entire world. But still, this would mean that I'd have to share it with him..if he comes back," she speaks out her thought, softly.  
  
She sighed, a little disappointed. For her, the rooftop has always been her sanctuary, ever since her first day at Ying De. It was her place to be free from the burden and the responsibility that had been put upon her.  
  
'Well, he did look troubled. I hope he had gone on home. He looked familiar, but he's not in any of my classes. Maybe he's a senior,' she says to herself.  
  
"Shan Chai, what are you doing? The customer is still waiting for her order." She blinked, practically aware of her surroundings now.  
  
"I'm sorry. What is it that you want? The banana mousse cake? How many? Two? Okay. Please pay at the counter." After handing the order to the customer, she sat back on the chair.  
  
"Shan Chai, what's wrong? Are you sick? Do you want to go home? I could cover for you." Shan Chai turned to face the owner of the voice.  
  
"No, I'm not sick, Xiao You. Sorry for making you worried. I'm just thinking of something," she said. "Is it hard for you at Ying De? You should've come and study at my college. Then it would be easier for the two of us. I'm having difficulty in adjusting as well. Not knowing anybody, trying to be friends with others, trying to get along.it is rather difficult," Xiao You sighed.  
  
"Emm.it is hard. Luckily I have Qing He to help me blend in. You know I don't want to study there. I don't fit in with those snobby rich kids. But, as a daughter, I just can't say no to my parents. They have pulled so many strings just to ensure me studying there. Such a waste of money!" Both of them sighed.  
  
"Oh! I met a strange guy today," said Shan Chai. Xiao You straightened up, smiling.  
  
"A guy? Shan Chai, have interest, on a guy?" Shan Chai gave Xiao You a deadly stare. "I'm just kidding. So, what is so strange about the guy? Is he a wacko? Did he try to hurt you or something?" questioned Xiao You.  
  
"He's not a wacko, and no, he didn't hurt me. Even if he tried, I could defend myself. He is just, weird. Sitting on the railing at the rooftop for hours, unmoved. Really quite, cold expression and totally unfriendly. But, his eyes.." Shan Chai's voice trails off.  
  
She could see the sadness and frustration in his eyes. Feeling sorry, she added, "His eye is full of sorrow. I even felt a stab of pain in my heart just by seeing it." There was silence for awhile.  
  
"Emm. so, is he good looking? Cute? Handsome? Or just plain okay?" Xiao You chirpily asked. Shan Chai looked over in disbelief at her friend. "I'm sorry. Lighten up, Shan Chai. Well, for someone you don't know, you do care quite a lot for this guy," said Xiao You, heading towards the kitchen.  
  
Xiao You's last sentence hung over her mind. 'That's true. Why did I care for him? Why do I feel the need to comfort him? Why should I even bother myself with these questions?' she asked herself, disbelieved by her own thoughts.  
  
Then, it struck her. She likes him! No! That cannot be. She shook her head, denying the idea. "I just felt sorry for him. Yeah! That must be it," she said to herself out loud. 


	2. Reunite

Chapter 2: Reunite  
  
"Lei darling.. Wakeup honey! It's time to open your eyes and see the world, dear," a deep, soft, husky voice broke the silence. 'This is not real', he made a note in his mind and kept on sleeping. Then, his body started to shake, furiously. He tried to ignore it but the person that shook him has started to tickle him too.  
  
Opening his eyes lazily, he asked, in an annoyed, sleepy voice, "Ugghh...What do you want? I'm not your honey or darling. Go find them somewhere else! I'm still sleepy." Just then, he noticed that Mei Zuo's and Xi Men's face was totally near to his. They're touching, caressing and blowing air all over his face.  
  
Annoyed, he swung his hand towards the nearest face to his. "Oww! That hurts!! Lei, wake up! It's already 10.30 am. Enough sleep! GET UP!" screamed Xi Men, rubbing his left cheek.  
  
Knowing that he wouldn't be left alone, he forced himself to be awake. Sitting on his bed, he watched sternly at his friends. "Well, what is it that is so important?"  
  
Xi Men and Mei Zuo exchanged looks. A surprised look passed between them. Looking back at him, Mei Zuo opened his mouth, "Ah Si's flight is at noon! Have you forgotten all about it?"  
  
Not looking even a little bit surprised, he nodded and landed back on his bed. "Hey, get up! Didn't you hear what Mei Zuo just said?" asked Xi Men, at the same time shook him.  
  
"There's still time. Give me another half an hour," he murmured, closing his eyes once more. Shaking their heads, Xi Men and Mei Zuo walked out from his room.  
  
Exactly half an hour after that, he was already at the back seat of Mei Zuo's BMW and on the way to pick up Ah Si. Ah Si or Dao Ming Si was the third generation of Dao Ming, the richest family in Taiwan.  
  
Three years ago, after their high school graduation, Ah Si's mother forced him to further his study at New York, so that she could keep an eye on Ah Si. However, this time, Ah Si managed to persuade his mother to allow him transferred to Ying De on his final year.  
  
Since Ying De was practically financed by the main 4 families in Taiwan, Ah Si's, Xi Men's, Mei Zuo's and his, they would absolutely graduate even if they don't attend any of the classes. Not that they haven't attend to any, it's just that they already know what there is to know to take over their family's business. The certificate was just a piece of paper telling the world that the heir of each family has obtained some level of education.  
  
Having Ah Si back to Taiwan would mean that Ying De would never be the same again, because F4 would be reunited. F4 was the name of their group ever since they were preadolescent, which meant the Flower of 4.  
  
Ah Si was the one who came up with the name, and the three of them just go along with it, since going against Ah Si would've meant arguments. Ah Si has always been the leader of the group and, being a spoilt and hardheaded brat, he was used of people obeying to his command.  
  
Secretly, Lei had always admired Ah Si for his straight forwardness. He, on the other hand, had always been the observant, quiet type in the group. He likes to keep his opinions and feelings to himself.  
  
As for Mei Zuo and Xi Men, well, they've always seen together because of their similar attitude and same taste, especially if it involves the opposite sex. Their only difference was Xi Men's coolness and Mei Zuo's easily panic manner. Also, not forgetting Xi Men's habit of changing girlfriends every week, because, for him a woman is only good for a week, as well as Mei Zuo's tastes in older woman.  
  
Deep down, Lei are thankful to have such good friends. They care, understand and respect for each other without the need to show it. They just know that they can depend on one another and at the same time still have their own privacy.  
  
"Lei, are you sleeping back there?" asked Xi Men, turning back to have a peek on him. He faced Xi Men, indicating that he's not. Grinning, Xi Men faced back in front.  
  
"Will Jing be coming, Mei Zuo?" queried Xi Men. "No, she has a modeling show this afternoon. But she'll be at VS tonight. Hey, won't Ah Si be surprised when he heard about the two of us!" Both Xi Men and Mei Zuo chuckled, imagining Ah Si's reaction. Hearing Jing's name being mentioned, Lei turned his sight to the side.  
  
His mind floats back to the night of his conversation with Jing, five days earlier. She had waited for him at his house, making his escape impossible. He sat opposite of Jing, not looking at her. She then stood up and sat next to him on the sofa.  
  
"Lei, I know you're upset and I do know why you're trying to avoid me by creating a gap between us. It's about me going steady with Mei Zuo, right? You will always be number one in my heart, Lei. No one will take your place. You will forever be my Lei," explained Jing, in her soft, caring voice.  
  
All the while, he only looked down at the floor, dare not see the face of the person he missed a whole lot. "But, I will never be the one you love," he expressed sadly.  
  
There was silence between them. "I do love you, Lei. But, yes, not as the love I have for Mei Zuo," she confessed.  
  
He looked up, staring straight into Jing's clear, watery eyes. "I had always loved you, Jing. Never will I find anyone else like you. There will be no one that could replace you in my heart," whispered Lei.  
  
Hearing what he has just said, a tear dropped from the corner of her eyes. Taking Lei's hand, she caresses it. Looking down at the hand she had in hers, she speaks out softly, "You'll find someone. Someone much better than me, and she will love you greatly. You deserve the best, my dear sweet Lei. Please be happy for me."  
  
He wiped the tear away with his free hand and lifts up her chin to face him. "I am happy for you. Don't worry about me. The wound will heal, eventually.. Come on, I'll send you home."  
  
It really hurts him to see her cry because of him. Even if he was terribly crushed, he still wanted Jing to be happy and have her own happiness. He will always support her and care for her like old times.  
  
Screeechhh.. The BMW stopped right in front of the international arrival gateway. Getting out of the car, he walked slowly behind Xi Men and Mei Zuo who are searching for Ah Si excitedly.  
  
From afar, he could see Ah Si standing near the public phone together with his luggage. Nothing much has changed in his appearance except for his hair. His hair was no longer straight up like a porcupine but flopped to his left side and about shoulder length. He looked like a model standing there. No wonder there are a lot of girls eyeing him from far. Seeing us coming towards him, he walked up to us with a large smile on his face.  
  
"Mei Zuo, Xi Men, Lei.. It's so nice to see you guys again. By the way, you're late!" exclaimed Ah Si, after briefly hugging and patting them. He can't help smiling from Ah Si's last comment.  
  
'Exactly just like the old Ah Si,' he noted.  
  
"You know 'who' needed his 15 hours beauty sleep. Hey, what happened to your porcupine hair? I thought you could never make it stay down?" teased Xi Men.  
  
"Much better ha? They have the technology there at New York. I looked like I have more 'size', eh?" said Ah Si. "SENSE! And I thought your English would be better after staying at New York for three years. Hahahahahaha!!!" Mei Zuo and Xi Men laughed.  
  
Smiling, he took up his thumb and turned it upside down, indicating the 'Not Good' signal. Frowning, Ah Si grabbed his suitcase and nudged Mei Zuo's side with his elbow. "Let's go!"  
  
~~  
  
"Shan Chai, Shan Chai.. Wait up," called out Qing He. She swirled around. "What is it, Qing He?" Seeing Qing He out of breath made her more curious.  
  
"Have you heard about F4?" She nodded. "The ones you've told me? The group made up from the 4 heir of Ying De's financial benefactor?"  
  
Nodding vigorously, Qing He added, "Before, there are only three of them studying here. Now, the gossiped is that the leader of F4, Dao Ming Si is back from New York to finish his final year here. Wouldn't it be great? The heir of the richest family in Taiwan is studying at the same college as us. He must be as cool as the other three. I wish I could be in their group. All of the girls would line up to ask me to be their date." With Qing He still daydreamed of his desire, Shan Chai walked off to her favorite spot, the rooftop.  
  
'What is so special about having the heirs here? Transferred at the middle of semester.just because it's his family's college, he can do whatever he wants. Rich kids act the same, arrogant, rude, think high of themselves, look down at others, ignorant, selfish and all the other negativity in the world! Maybe they are ugly as well.hehehe,' grinned Shan Chai at her own thoughts.  
  
~~  
  
He was really annoyed by the reaction they got the moment they arrived at college together with Ah Si. Everyone was looking at them, whispering and even tried to swarm around them. Ah Si seems overwhelmed at first, then lost his patience after one of the girls ripped his shirt.  
  
"Are you stupid?! Look what you have done to my shirt! Get lost!! All of you!" Ah Si's yelling startled everybody, except for the three of them. They know Ah Si too well.  
  
"I..I..I am really sorry, Dao Ming Si," apologized the girl.  
  
Looking furious, Ah Si shouted, "If sorry is enough, what's the use of the police?!" At that moment, everyone kept away from them.  
  
Xi Men and Mei Zuo laughed at the whole situation. "There goes his phrase! At first I wondered if he had forgotten all about it and maybe grown up a bit," kidded Xi Men. "That's true! What do you think Lei?" asked Mei Zuo. He pointed down his thumb, smiled in amusement.  
  
Still annoyed, Ah Si looked at him. "Hei Lei, did I asked for your opinion?" That remark made Xi Men and Mei Zuo laughed even louder. "There goes the other one! Ah Si is still Ah Si, no matter how long he leaves us."  
  
Ah Si grabbed the both of them on the neck and wrestled them. Not wanting to be part of it, he shook his head and walked past them.  
  
~~  
  
Leaning at the railing, she looked up towards the sky. She didn't have any class for another hour, so she decided to sky gazed and had her breakfast at the rooftop. It felt so peaceful and quiet. Just then, she felt of another person's presence. She quickly turned to her right.  
  
"You! When did you get here? I didn't hear the door being opened, or your footsteps. Huuuhhhh.. You've really frightened me!" She rubbed her chest up and down, trying to calm herself. "What kind of attitude is this? Nearly make my heart stopped!" whined Shan Chai, softly.  
  
"You're too absorbed with the sky and clouds; I didn't have the heart to disturb you." He gave out a slight smile, but it is still enough to make her heart jumped excitedly.  
  
She tried to stay composed. "Haven't seen you up here ever since that night. Solved your problems? Or you have a new one? But you looked quite happy. Mmmm." She looked at him steadily, trying to figure out the reason.  
  
"Just felt like it. Maybe I wanted to see you. Thank you," he replied. His answer startled her.  
  
"Thank you?" she asked.  
  
"You've been a great help the previous night. I've felt much better after you left. So, thank you," he explained. "Mmm.it's really nothing. I'm happy that I've helped you turned around," she expressed, smiling. They stayed looking at each other for a while before they turned back their gaze to the sky.  
  
'Why did my heart beat so fast? Knowing his existence here, really made me anxious,' she thought, taking a secret glance of him.  
  
"Emm.want to share my breakfast?" invite her, trying to make conversations. He turned to face her and took a piece of her sandwich.  
  
They stayed in silence until it was time for her class. Even though they don't have any conversations, she didn't feel awkward at all. Just by having his company, she felt really calm and free. She turned to look at him for the last time.  
  
He looked so purely beautiful. Sitting on the railing with his legs propped up, he placed his chin on his knee. Gazing towards the sky, with the sunlight shone at his left side, he really looked like an angel.  
  
"Sorry for disturbing you, but I have to go. I have class. Nice to see you again, bye," she said, excusing herself. Turning, facing her, he smiled.  
  
After she left, he looked over to the place she stood earlier. He knew she had secretly glanced towards him, thinking that he didn't notice it. What she didn't know is that, he too has stolen some glimpse of her. She doesn't look like she belonged in Ying De. She is fragile and innocent in his eyes, not like the rest of the girl in the college.  
  
He didn't know why he mined so much about the girl. There is nothing interesting about her. She's not a beauty nor does she have the perfect figure. She is nothing like Jing; but her inner self really shines.  
  
He felt he could be himself in front of her. Not the cold, closed up Hua Zhe Lei, but the gentle, understanding, real side of him that he kept hidden from the rest of the world including his best friends. He doesn't like people to know about his feelings.  
  
That is why he kept a straight, cold and uncaring attitude, hoping to be left alone and not being intruded. He has never thought that anyone can make the hidden 'him' to emerged, not even Jing managed to do it. 


	3. The Bet

Chapter 3: The Bet "Ma, I'm home."  
  
She puts her bag in her bedroom before heading straight to the kitchen to greet her mother.  
  
"Aa. Shan Chai, you're back. Come and eat your lunch. Don't you have to work today?" ushered her mother to the dining table. She gave her mother a peck on the cheek.  
  
"I have to work the night shift this whole week." Her mother just sat in front of her, watching her eat and looking at her intensely. She had a feeling that her mother has something in her mind.  
  
"Shan Chai, how was school today? I heard there's a new kid enrolled in your school. A new rich, very wealthy student. After so long, you didn't even bother to tell me about it. Have you introduced yourself to him?" asked her mom full of hope.  
  
"No, I have not. I don't tend to either. Oh, look how the time flies. I'm finished. Got to go and freshen up before going to work." She hurriedly cleaned up her dishes and went straight to the bedroom.  
  
'How did she know all of this stuff? I hate it when dad and mom keep on pestering me to find a rich, wealthy boyfriend. Life is not about getting easy money, hard work that counts!' she grumbles to herself in front of the mirror.  
  
~~  
  
He was thinking about the rooftop girl, when he heard Ah Si called out his name. "Lei, what are you doing playing with the glass. The high-pitched sound is no longer tolerable. Cut it out! Why are you so quiet today, ha? Thinking about your girlfriend? Hahahahaha.can't believe that Lei already has one!" He looked up to Ah Si. "I don't." Ah Si was about to say something else when suddenly Mei Zhuo stood up. "Jing, over here!" The others turned to look at the direction Mei Zhuo spoke out to, except for him.  
  
"Hi guys. Sorry, I'm late. The photo session ended up late." He looked up to see Jing, smiling and looking stunningly beautiful as always. Mei Zhuo ushered a seat beside him.  
  
From where he was sitting, it looked like he has been singled out. Ah Si sat beside Xi Men and Mei Zhuo together with Jing. He picked up his glass and drank up the balance.  
  
"Ah Si, I have something to tell you. This is really an old story but, ever since you got here 2 weeks ago, I've been keeping it a secret from you," said Mei Zhuo seriously. Ah Si looked surprised. Turning around, he looked at the other faces for answers. Still holding on to his glass, Lei refilled it and sat back. He knows what the announcement will be.  
  
"Well?" asked Ah Si, impatiently. After exchanged glances with Jing, Mei Zhuo looked straight to Ah Si.  
  
"Jing and I have already gone steady."  
  
Ah Si's eyes widen when he heard the news. "Since when? You two known about this and still kept silent about it?"  
  
Xi Men just giggled softly. Even he found the situation to be a bit humorous especially the look on Ah Si's face. To his surprised, he no longer feels the pain in his heart when he saw Mei Zhuo being together with Jing. He thought the pain would never cease away. The only feeling his having right now was the feeling of loneliness and longing. At that very moment, the image of the rooftop girl came to his mind. He wondered why.  
  
"So, Ah Si how was your life at New York? Have you ehm, ehm?" questioned Xi Men after they left VS, and went to another club. Mei Zhuo has already sent Jing home so that he could be together with F3.  
  
"Have I what? What are you trying to ask?" replied Ah Si, acted as if he has no idea what Xi Men was talking about.  
  
Grabbing a hold of Ah Si on the shoulder, Xi Men laughed. "Come on Ah Si, you know what Xi Men means," Mei Zhuo intervened. Lei stayed silent at the back of the group. He watched his three best friends closely, smiling slightly at their childish conversation.  
  
"I have no idea what you are indicating," said Ah Si.  
  
"Oh! This guy is being so difficult. I have to be direct then. Have you made out with a girl yet? You are the slowest and innocent in F4, except for you Lei. I don't even think you care about girls."  
  
Lei looked at Xi Men, "Hey, leave me out of it!"  
  
Holding up his hands, Xi Men playfully surrender, laughing at all time. Mei Zhuo nudged Ah Si's side.  
  
"Well, have you?"  
  
He could see Ah Si's face blushed. Even Mei Zhuo and Xi Men couldn't help laughing at Ah Si's red face.  
  
"Looking by your face, we already know the answer. You've never had a girlfriend too, I presume," indicate Xi Men.  
  
Trying to fight for his ego, Ah Si snapped, "I can have a girlfriend! I can pick any girl to be my girlfriend just like that. It's just that, I haven't found the right one yet. I'm not like you two, playing around with girls even when you already have a girlfriend. I'm not that cheap!"  
  
Mei Zhuo and Xi Men kept on laughing at Ah Si's remarks. They know that Ah Si was trying to cover up his bashfulness. "Okay now. You said you can pick any girl to be your girlfriend, right?" looking and smiling mischievously at Mei Zhuo, Xi Men continued, "I want to make a bet that the truth is, you can't." Mei Zhuo nodded, understanding the direction of Xi Men's game. "Yeah, I think you're right Xi Men. Ah Si is just boasting like always."  
  
Knowing Ah Si, Lei knew he is going to explode and without thinking, except the challenge. He guessed right when Ah Si stopped walking and went ballistic.  
  
"YES I CAN! I'll prove it to you."  
  
Xi Men winked at Mei Zhuo. They've won. "Okay then, it's a bet. For 1000 dollars, you must show us your girlfriend. Wait, to make it more exciting, we will choose the girl for you and gives you 3 month to make her yours. You cannot bribe her or even tell her about the bet and she must willingly WANT to be your girlfriend. How's that?" stated Xi Men, supported by Mei Zhuo.  
  
Lei shook his head and smiled. 'This is going to be interesting,' he thought. Without giving it another thought, Ah Si agreed.  
  
"Lei, what do you think? Will Ah Si succeed?" asked Mei Zhuo. He smiled and showed his thumb down. "See Ah Si. Even Lei didn't think you'd succeed." Ah Si glared at him. "Why does someone who doesn't have interest in girls would criticize me?" Lei grinned.  
  
~~  
  
She was late for class, and sprinting all the way from the motorcycle parking lot to her class still did not help her made it in time. All of a sudden, she was knocked down and landed on her bottom. Someone has bumped into her and that person just walked away without helping her up.  
  
"You jerk! What type of a man are you? Bumped into somebody and still walk away. Not even, apologize. No manners at all!" she yelled.  
  
She stood up and gathered back her books. She looked up when she saw someone standing in front of her.  
  
"What did you called me? Don't you know who I am?" asked the person.  
  
She's furious now. "I called you a jerk because you're a jerk! Even if I am wrong for running in the hallway, but you bumped into ME! You should've apologized or helped me up," scolded her.  
  
The man in front of him was about 6 feet tall and looked mad.  
  
"Ah Si, what's wrong?" She saw his friends approaching them.  
  
"This stupid girl called me a jerk! I, Dao Ming Si, a jerk!?" She looked at the faces around her. People have started to gather around them, witnessing the quarrel. At that moment, a familiar face appeared behind one of the 'jerk's' friends.  
  
"I think you better go," said the person.  
  
"Lei! Why are you letting her go?" scolded the jerk called Ah Si. She felt so mad at this Ah Si and ashamed at Lei for her behavior. Staring straight into Ah Si's eyes, she kicked his leg and ran off.  
  
"Oww!! You stupid girl! Come back here!!" She heard his cries from afar and since she was already late, she headed straight to the rooftop.  
  
~~  
  
Opening the door, she slumped on the floor, panting for air. "Can't believe I did that. That stupid jerk! What's his name again? Ah Si? Ugly name. No manners at all! Argghhhh!!! I am so mad!" she yelled. She looked at her watch. '45 minutes to go till the next class,' she told herself.  
  
She recalled back the incident especially the part where she saw the familiar person. "So, his name is Lei. He looked different from the one I knew. He looked ignorant, even the voice is cold too. Is he a friend of that madman?" she asked out loud.  
  
"I am his friend."  
  
She jumped up at the sound of the voice. "Don't scare me like that! Stop appearing like a ghost, soundless and unexpectedly," she scolded Lei.  
  
Lei smirked. "You're really cute when you're mad." That simple sentence shut her up. She knows that she is blushing, but she tried to ignore it.  
  
"So, you're that foolish boy's friend. Why didn't you tell him to apologize to me? You should've helped me out. The 'you' now and the 'you' back then were so much different. Are you sure you are the same person?"  
  
Still smiling, he took her by the hand and drags her toward the railing. "Let's sit." His gesture startled her. Her heart beats faster than ever before. Looking at the hand that still held hers; she tried to free her hand from them. But the hand tightens its grip. He helped her up the railing before sitting down on it himself. All the time, he still held tight her hand.  
  
She looked at him, unable to believe what was happening. She was happy but at the same time surprised. 'Why is he holding my hand? Why is he so much different from just now? How exactly is this Lei?' The same questions repeatedly going through her mind.  
  
~~  
  
He knew where to find her. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw her quarreled with Ah Si. No one has ever been brave or stupid enough to stand up to Ah Si. But she did it. Not only did she scold him, she even kicked him.  
  
It was so hilarious. He has to control himself not to laugh at the situation. He was amused with the girl's attitude. 'She was not so fragile after all,' he thought. So, instead of staying with Ah Si, he went to the rooftop to see the girl.  
  
He watched her grumble and yell by her own. Smiling to himself, he found her to be quite cute. She seems to be unaware of his presence because she was asking herself whether he was a friend of Ah Si. "I am his friend."  
  
She jumped in astonishment. He had to hold back his laughter when she scolded him for being discreet. "You're really cute when you're mad," he said aloud, without planning to do so. Just then, she blushed.  
  
'She looks even cuter when blushing.' He ignored her questions and took her hand, lead her to the railing. "Let's sit." She tried to free her hand from his but he tightened it. Helping her up the railing, he can't stop looking at her.  
  
Holding her and having her by his side, he felt really happy. He didn't know why he acted this way. Showing out his feelings and affections has always been a set back but today, out in the blue it came to him effortlessly.  
  
"Tit, tit.Tit, tit."  
  
Still holding onto her hand, he took out his mobile phone and read the message. 'F3 is waiting for me.' He looked over to her.  
  
"What is your name? You've known mine."  
  
She flinched and turned to face him. "I...I'm Shan Chai." He held up her hand and kissed it. "Goodbye Shan Chai. I have to go. Till we meet again," he bid goodbye and left.  
  
~~  
  
In front of the college main entrance he saw Xi Men and Mei Zhuo leaning by Mei Zhuo's silver BMW, watching Ah Si walking back and forth in front of them.  
  
"I am going to get that girl! How dare she humiliate me and called me a 'jerk'. Xi Men, Mei Zhuo find out who was that girl and what are the classes that she took. I am going to make her pay. Where is Lei? Running off like that after letting that girl go unpunished is so typical of him," grumbled Ah Si.  
  
"I'm here. What's wrong?"  
  
Ah Si looked up towards Lei direction. His face was still furious. Mei Zhuo and Xi Men turned to face Lei as well. Their expression tells him that he's going to be in trouble.  
  
"Where have you been? Did you know that retard girl? Why did you let her go? I was going to punish her for calling me names and humiliating me in front of the other students. You better tell me who she is, Lei," pressed Ah Si. "I don't know her. I just don't want you to make a fool of yourself for bullying a girl," explained Lei, uninterested.  
  
"See, I told you Lei wouldn't have known the girl. Stop being a baby and let's go," said Mei Zhuo.  
  
"Hey! I just have the most spectacular idea. Since you wanted to know about the girl, we're going to pick her as the bait. Isn't that right, Mei Zhuo?" asked Xi Men, winking at Mei Zhuo.  
  
Understanding the meaning, Mei Zhuo added, "Yeah! That girl would be your future girlfriend. Or you want to back out?" Ah Si stared at Xi Men and Mei Zhuo as if the stare could kill.  
  
Hearing to the idea has made Lei uncomfortable. He didn't want her to be a part of the stupid bet. The girl was his. He was not sure why he thought she was his but one thing for sure, he certainly cares a whole lot for the girl.  
  
Since he had confessed of not knowing the girl, he can't object to it without making them suspicious of him. He has to think of something, and fast.  
  
"The girl is not suitable for Ah Si. She's not pretty enough," he protests.  
  
F3 turned towards him. Their faces were full of questions.  
  
"I just thought that maybe it would be unfair for Ah Si to have such an ugly and unmannered girlfriend even for a bet. He's Dao Ming Si," he explained, trying to make it as apparent as possible. "That's the beauty of it. Because of her unmannerly attitude and the not so beautiful feature, but I do think she is quite cute, she would be the best person for Ah Si to show his capability and charm. Don't you agree Ah Si?" suggested Xi Men in an annoying tone.  
  
"I don't like her, but this is a good idea for revenge. Emmm.if I would succeed, the two of you must acknowledge me as your love sifu. You too Lei. Okay?" agreed Ah Si, pointing at the three of them. Xi Men and Mei Zhuo laughed at Ah Si's statement, but they nodded in agreement.  
  
Lei didn't like it, not even a bit, but for the mean time he has to keep his mouth shut and thinks of some other solutions of preventing this from happening. He didn't want his Shan Chai to be hurt but he has a feeling that she will be able to repel. 


	4. Let The Game Begin

Chapter 4: Let The Game Begin  
  
He can't sleep that night. He was thinking about Ah Si's plan. For two whole days, he has to listened to Ah Si's, Xi Men's and Mei Zuo's plot to get Shan Chai. He cannot take it any more. He felt like a loser, unable to stop the bet and prevent the mess that will drag Shan Chai in it. But, one thing good about this whole bet is that he now knows more about her than before. With Ah Si's influence at Ying De, every detail about Shan Chai came to Ah Si's possession.  
  
She was three years younger than he was, taking business administration course and lived with her parents in a single storey terrace house. He even knows where she works. Working part time at a cake house near her house, she was a kind, friendly girl, and only has two best friends, Qing He; her friend since primary school and Xiao You; her co-worker and also a friend during her secondary years. The only one thing common with the both of them, excluding the rooftop, was that she was also the only child.  
  
"I just hope Ah Si will give up." He sighed and shift to his right side. Blinking in the dark, he got up and walked to the balcony. He stared at the garden in front of him. After a while, he realized that the night was quite clear, not as dark as usual. He looked up and saw the full moon, shining brightly.  
  
'It has already been a month since I first saw her. She must've gone to the rooftop tonight. I can't believe I could care for a girl this fast. Just right after I lost Jing. Am I just using her to hold back my sorrow for losing Jing? Am I really just using her? Or I really did care for her?' He gave a long thought. He still can't figure out his true feelings towards the girl.  
  
~~  
  
'He didn't show up last night. Must've something important to do. Wait a minute. Why am I expecting him to be there? Not that we've promised to meet or anything. Why would I concern about him? He probably didn't even think about me. He really is mysterious, very hard to understand. His action always surprises me,' she told herself, blushing when she remembered back the day he hold her hand and kissed it.  
  
Arriving at Ying De, she was shocked to find that the person she hates was waiting for her at the parking lot, since she was the only person who went to Ying De by motorcycle. She parked her scooter and got down, heading straight to the person who was smiling at her. "Get lost! What do you want? You want to fight some more? Not satisfied?" she scolded him.  
  
"You! Can't you be gentle like a woman? Act just like a boy! So rough!" yelled back the boy, putting his hand on his waist, the smile faded.  
  
"Gentle or not is none of your business. Stand a side!" She pushed the boy aside and walked past him.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
She stopped. Turning around she looked at him. "What did you just say?"  
  
"I said, 'I'm sorry'. I should've helped you up that day."  
  
"About time you agreed it was your fault. Sure does take a long time to understand that," she sneered and headed back to her destination.  
  
"It wasn't my fault! You're the one running in the hallway! I'm just trying to be polite. I am, however, a man with 'size'."  
  
She turned back and glared at him. "You're despicable! Arrogant, stupid and a pervert! Aaahhh!!" Turning back towards her class, she was furious. 'That jerk made me so mad! Ruining my mood early in the morning. Not just he is an arrogant, hardheaded, intolerant person, he also a pervert! 'Size'? He has some nerve!!' she grumbled angrily to herself.  
  
~~  
  
He watched the whole incident from behind the wall and smiled. She walked past him without noticing him at the side. 'She does look angry. Well, she sure can take care of herself.' He looked back at Ah Si. Xi Men and Mei Zhuo had just approached him from their hiding place, laughing at Ah Si's face. He knows that Ah Si has lost his temper. For the first time he met his match. There was no other person able to scold him like that other than his sister. According to Shan Chai's timetable that Ah Si has, she will have a break at about 10. He'll wait for her at the rooftop. He had a feeling she'll be there.  
  
"Nice work Ah Si. You really are smooth with your words. Hahahahahaha." laughed Xi Men, followed by Mei Zhuo. "Shut up! She is too rough and egoistic. But I'll get her, just wait and see."  
  
Xi Men stopped laughing but kept on grinning. "Yeah, sure. Okay, I believe you, for now." Mei Zhuo nodded, still giggling. "Nonetheless, she reminds me of someone I knew.ehmm.," said Xi Men.  
  
"She's like Dao Ming Zhuang," he announced. Xi Men turned to look at him. "That's right! She acts just like Zhuang Che."  
  
"No, she is not! She was more intolerable than Zhuang," shouted Ah Si, disagree. "Just like you, Ah Si," exclaimed Mei Zhuo, laughing. They all laughed at Ah Si. With a sour expression, Ah Si walked away. They followed from behind, still laughing.  
  
At the café, Ah Si still put on his annoyed face. "Oh, come on now Ah Si. Lighten up, okay," said Mei Zhuo, nudging Ah Si's arm. "I'm thinking of how to get that girl. What's her name again?"  
  
"Shan Chai," he said without noticing it.  
  
Xi Men looked at him intensely. "What? He has been babbling on how to get her for three days now," he tried to cover up his mistake. Xi Men just nodded but he could see the unsatisfied look on his face. 'I better be careful of what I say next time,' he made a note to himself.  
  
"Xi Men, Mei Zhuo, Lei, what should I do now? Every time I saw her, we quarrel. How can I win her heart if we keep on arguing?" asked Ah Si. He glanced at his watch. He has another hour to 10. "How about flower and chocolates? Girls are crazy for those two. Always work for me," suggested Mei Zhuo.  
  
"Ah Si, this is supposed to be a bet between you and us, you know. Helping you is not beneficial for us," claimed Xi Men, looking straight at Ah Si. "This is no longer about the bet. I want to get that girl. This is revenge. I want her to fall for me and then I'll just break her heart. Not only that, I would announce to the whole of Ying De all about her secrets when we are together."  
  
He can't stand it anymore. Ah Si's idea of payback at Shan Chai has gone a bit too far. "You are being childish. Just apologize to her and let go. You did bump into her." Ah Si glared at him. Mei Zhuo made a 'Oh! You'll be in trouble' look and Xi Men looked at him curiously.  
  
"What is wrong with you? Why are you on her side? You know her, didn't you?" questioned Ah Si, raising his voice. He kept quite. Finishing his drink, he stood and left. "Fine! If you don't want to join in, you can walk out. But, I'm warning you. Do not interfere! You hear me, Lei?" Ignoring Ah Si, he walked away.  
  
"What's his problem? He never cares about others before," asked Ah Si. Mei Zhuo and Xi Men exchanged looks, and then shrugged. "We have no idea. You know how Lei are. He's very mysterious and keeps everything to himself. He must have his own reasons. Forget about him," said Xi Men, backing up Lei. Mei Zhuo nodded, agreeing with Xi Men's speculation.  
  
~~  
  
'What a messed up morning! Can't understand what the lecturer taught, have tons of work to do, and not to forget the argument with that stupid jerk. He's at fault! Spoiled my mood early in the morning.' she said to herself while walking towards the rooftop. Every time she's on break or troubled, she'll absolutely find her way to the rooftop.  
  
Opening the door, she noticed someone on the railing with two cans of drink. Knowing who it was, she quietly crept towards the person. She wants to surprise him as he always did to her. "Take a drink and sit." She stopped. 'How did he know it's me without turning?' she asked herself, puzzled. "Why do you still standing there? Come," he said, turning around to face her and held up a can for her. Smiling, she walked over to him. She took the drink and climbed onto the railing.  
  
The both of them sat in silent, enjoying the scenery and drink. "How did you know it was me?" she asked, staring at him, waiting for his answer. "Instinct," he answered without taking his eyes off his view.  
  
"Shan Chai, have you finished?" he asked, after a while. She turned to face him. "Emm. why?" He smiled and took the can from her hand. "Can you wait here for another 10 minutes and then come down to the music room?"  
  
"What's at the music room?"  
  
"Just come okay. I'll wait for you there." He winked at her and climbed down.  
  
'He's in a good mood today. What is it that he wants to show me at the music room? Oh well! Just wait and see then,' she thought. She took out her notebook and read the previous lecture.  
  
~~  
  
10 minutes afterwards she started to head down to the music room as Lei had wanted. In her mind, a lot of questions and speculations came up. She reached the music room minutes later. Standing near the door, she tried to listen to what was going on in the room. Nothing. Not a single sound was heard. She took a deep breath and opened the door. On the stage, stood Lei, waiting for her. He motioned her to come in and sit at the front row. 'Is he going to sing for me?' she wondered.  
  
She sat on the seat that is opposite of him. He smiled at her and took out a violin from his back. "This is for you. Happy first month anniversary of our first meet. Sorry for not being at the rooftop yesterday. Hope this will make it up to you," he announced, before playing the violin. 'He remembered! This is so surprisingly wonderful. Oh my! He really can play the violin. What a beautiful sound!' Just then, she stopped thinking at once and focused on listening to his music.  
  
~~  
  
He closed his eyes and played the music that came to him yesterday night. Mixing the music with his mood right now, felt so refreshing and intriguing. He could feel his whole body corresponding with the rhythm.  
  
Violin was his infatuation ever since he was 12. Ever since he heard the first violin played at a violin recital, he was curious how such a small instrument could give out such a melodious sound. That has sparked his interest to learn to play the violin. Even though there were times when he felt like giving up because of the pain and cuts on his fingers, he kept going. It was all because of one simple explanation, he was in love with the violin. Playing the violin made him calmed and free to be himself. He doesn't have to think about what was going on around him or even his problems. It was just the two of them, his violin and him.  
  
This was the first time he shared his passion with someone else. He opened his eyes when it came to the last verse. In front of him, the girl he dedicate the music to was closing her eyes and anticipate with the music he played. 'She never looked so beautiful than now,' he thought. He finished his music with a high note. Holding on to his violin, he watched Shan Chai intensely. She was smiling and it took her some time before opening her eyes again. "That was beautiful. Thank you for sharing it with me," she said, softly but loud enough for him to hear. That was enough said. Her compliment made him utterly happy. It made him want to hold her in his arms. But, instead, he put down his violin in its case and walked down slowly from the stage towards her.  
  
"I made it just for you. I'm glad you like it," he confessed after he sat down next to her. "Like it? I LOVE it! You made it yourself? Wow! You're so talented. You could perform in an orchestra or even put on a solo performance. I would surely come to hear you play," she exclaimed.  
  
The look on her face at that exact time was so adorable and cute. "Kawaii," he said, as he leaned forward and gave a quick kiss on her forehead. He could see her blushed in an instant and she quickly looked down to cover her face from him. "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to know you," he whispered. She stayed still, gave out no response. 'Was she offended to the kiss? I couldn't help it. She was too cute. It just happened. Please don't let her be mad at me,' he thought, guilty and scared of offending her.  
  
"Shan Chai, please look at me. I'm sorry if I have offended you. I'll leave if you don't want me here, but believe me that I never meant to hurt you or offended you. You're just too cute and adorable, just like a little girl. I couldn't help it to want to give you a kiss," he apologized.  
  
Seeing that she remained the same, static, he sighed. He got up from his seat and walked away, unwillingly. Walking past her towards the stage to take his violin, his shirt jerked. He turned his head to the side and saw Shan Chai's hand at his shirttail, tugging it. Looking up, he met Shan Chai's gaze. "Don't go. I'm not mad at you. Just, just a bit shocked. Please sit down again," pleaded Shan Chai. Letting go of his shirt, Shan Chai gave out a slight smile, her cheeks reddened. He felt relieved after hearing what she had just said. Smiling, he sat back again at his previous sit.  
  
The two of them kept quiet. None have any idea to start a conversation. 'I better not touched on the kiss issue again. Have to get rid of this awkwardness. Emm.' he considered. "You have a class at noon right? Two more hours to go. Let's go someplace for branch, okay?"  
  
"What? Oh, yea! At noon. Branch? But, I've promised my friend to eat out with him."  
  
"Qing He, right? Does he have a mobile phone? You could use mine to cancel it," he suggested. She looked shocked when he mentioned her friend's name. He can't help but to grin. "I have my ways."  
  
~~  
  
'How did he had known all of this? My timetable and Qing He? He even knows what my thoughts are. It is so hard to understand him, but I guess that's what fascinates me about him. I can never know his next move.just like today,' she thought, remembering his performance and the kiss. She touched her forehead secretly and smiled.  
  
"Shan Chai, what are you doing? Here, call up Qing He." His voice startled her. She nodded and took the phone.  
  
"Hello, Qing He. I can't go out with you today. I have another appointment with a friend. We'll go out after class, okay. Thanks Qing He. Take care now, bye." She handed back his phone. "Come, we have to hurry," he said, grabbing her hand and lead her out of the room.  
  
She noticed that some of the students stared at Lei and her. Some even whispered and looked surprised. 'What's going on? Why do they looked so shocked? Is there anything wrong that I didn't know?' she thought uneasily.  
  
Lei lead her straight to the main entrance where she saw 4 expensive cars parked. Lei let go of her hand and took out his key. He went straight to the black Porsche on the far left side of the 4 cars. Opening up the passenger's door, he said, "Hop in."  
  
She kept changing looks between the other 3 cars and Lei. 'Who is Lei? Who are the owners of these other 3 cars? Why are they so special, permitted to park here?' she wondered. She walked slowly towards him. Stepping into his car, she looked around. "Wow! Nice car," she cried out, astonished. Lei got in and smiled at her, then drove off.  
  
~~  
  
She was walking to her class after Lei dropped her off at the back entrance as she has requested, when she realized that everyone was staring at her and whispered behind her back. 'What's going on? Did I have something on my face?' She rubbed her face gently, while still looking at the people around her.  
  
"Shan Chai, Shan Chai." Hearing her name being shouted, she turned around. "What is it, Qing He?" Qing He grinned. "You never told me you knew F4." She looked Qing He straight in the eye. She was dumbfounded. She doesn't understand why Qing He asked her to this question. "What? I don't know any F4."  
  
"Don't lie to me Shan Chai. I'm your friend.anyway, you are not good at lying. Rumors has spread that you went out with Hua Zhe Lei." She still don't understand. 'I don't know any Hua Zhe Lei. Why does Qing He asking me these questions?' Qing He stared at her quizzically. "You really don't know them do you? Come with me Shan Chai. I'll show you who F4 is." Qing He took her hand and pulled her along. They stopped in front of Ying De's field, opposite the main entrance.  
  
"There, under the tree. Can you see the four figures? They are the famous F4. The one standing is Dao Ming Si, the one sitting in front of him is Xi Men, the other one laughing and holding the can of drink at Xi Men's side is Mei Zhuo, and the last one behind Xi Men is Hua Zhe Lei. You can't see his face clearly because he is facing the other way." Shan Chai watched the four of them closely.  
  
'Oh my! That Dao Ming Si is that jerk Ah Si. Those are his friends that came to his aid that day. That would mean.the last person there would be.' She clasped her mouth. She can't believed her eyes. So the four car parked at the front entrance are theirs. No wonder that jerk acted as if he owned the college and why Lei knew so much about her. He had been snooping on her. Feeling betrayed and ashamed, she turned around and ran off.  
  
Not sure where to go, she went straight to the restroom. Washing her hand and splashed some water on her face, she stared straight to the mirror. 'I can't believe I let myself being played by those boys, especially Lei. I . I . I thought he was for real. Wait! I can't be like this: sad, pathetic, a softy. Come on Shan Chai! Wake up! Are you going to let them go just like that? Are going to show them that they've won? NO! Now, walk out of here and just ignore the others, you still have one more class to attend. The revenge can wait,' she said to herself, trying to lift up her spirit and pulled herself together.  
  
Entering her class, she put on a straight face and walked towards her seat. 'Keep a clear mind. Ignore them.ignore them,' she kept repeating it to calm herself, aware of the stares from the other students. Just then, she realized of the bouquet of yellow and white roses on top of her table. She picked it up, looked around the classroom but nobody said anything. Noticed a card on the bouquet, she opened it up and read.  
  
"Shan Chai, I'm really, truly sorry. The white roses means, I surrender and ask for your forgiveness while the yellow roses represent my wish to start again, from the beginning. If you have the heart to forgive me, meet me after class at the main entrance. Sincerely, Dao Ming Si."  
  
"What's so special about her? She got a bouquet of flower from Dao Ming Si, asking for forgiveness and start over. Start what, eh? What do they have before?"  
  
"I even heard rumors that she went out with Hua Zhe Lei. She is so plain and yet, two of the F4 members, the richest and the cutest one went out for her. Maybe she bewitched them to fall for her."  
  
The conversations around her were annoying. She glared at the whole classroom. "SHUT UP! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE ME!" Silent swept in the classroom instantly. Everybody stared at her, disbelieved and some disgusted. Annoyed, frustrated and angry, she barged out of the classroom, holding on to the bouquet and went straight on to the field she last saw the F4's.  
  
From afar, she saw the four of them still laughing and drinking happily. Anger dwelled up inside her. She can't wait any longer. Running straight to them, she called out Ah Si's name. Ah Si looked around, saw her and smiled. His smiling face made her more furious. When she was a step distance from Ah Si, she hit him with the flowers.  
  
"Owww! What the." Ah Si yelped.  
  
"What is the meaning of, this? Just because you're rich does not mean that you can play other people around! So stop bothering me! Let me be! Stay away from my life! LEAVE ME ALONE!! ALL OF YOU! I MEAN IT! ALL...OF.YOU!" she screamed, glared sideways towards Lei at the end of the sentence. She huffed and walked away. Other students are looking at her but she doesn't care.  
  
Behind her, Ah Si glared at Mei Zhuo. "You said girls like flowers?"  
  
"Well, they do! She must have been a freak. Must because of something you did. Well, go after her and find out or apologize," said Mei Zhuo, lifted his shoulder, unable to understand the scene before him just now.  
  
"Shan Chai, wait up."  
  
Ignoring the call, she walked faster, even ran a few paces. Of a sudden, someone grabbed her arm. "LET GO! I don't want to hear anything from you no more."  
  
"Shan Chai, look at me! I'm not going to let go of your arm unless you look at me and tell me what I do wrong!" commanded Ah Si.  
  
"Fine! Now, can you let go?" she hissed. Letting her arm free, Ah Si stared at her as she does him back.  
  
"Which part of the whole thing you don't understand? I want you and your groupies to leave me alone. I know, I am not even 1% as wealthy when compared to yours but I'm still a person with feelings. Don't intrude into my life and make fun of me. If you do, I won't keep silent about it. I will surely fight you and the other F4's for my pride, because for me, that is the most important thing in life. You won't see me collapsed, never! Okay?" She made it clear and left, knowing Lei was just near by and heard the whole thing.  
  
She knows she'll regret losing her temper like that one day, but today, she felt quite good letting it all go.  
  
Ah Si stood there unmoved. He's still trying to cope to the whole incident.  
  
"That is one hot, blazing chick. Not in the sexual manner but at..ti..tude. Wow! What a temper," said Xi Men, patting Ah Si's back. "Good luck, dude," Mei Zhuo added. Ignoring the others, Lei's gaze follows Shan Chai's direction, wondering what is wrong. 


	5. Forgiveness

Chapter 5: Forgiveness  
  
He sat on the railing of the rooftop with his legs fell loosely at the edge and his head looked up to the clear blue sky. It has been two days after the unexplained episode with Shan Chai's sudden explode. He has been thinking and reanalyzes the whole situation again and again, but no matter how many times, he still failed to come up with the likely reason. He sighed, finally giving up.  
  
For the past couple of days, Shan Chai has stop coming up to the rooftop on her free time between classes and also avoiding him whenever she saw him around. This situation really disturbed him and he felt an emptiness starting to form within him. Still looking up to the sky, groups of cumulus clouds floating calmly above him, forming funny forms and some with pencils of rays coming through it still couldn't pacify his troubled heart and mind. Closing his eyes, he recalled back the incident.  
  
It started when Shan Chai shout out Ah Si's name, he knows for sure that Ah Si will get a scold from her, especially with the look on her furious face and the bouquet of roses clutched at her hand, but he has no idea of the event that comes up after that. When she hit Ah Si with the flowers and screamed to his face, he was shocked. He has never seen her that mad and full of anger before. He was even more shocked and startled the moment she glared at him when she finished her last warning words; "ALL.OF.YOU!".  
  
The glare felt as if she has indicated that she was specifically directed it to him. But why? What has he done to deserve the shut off like that? In such a slight time frame, just exactly after their branch? When he dropped her off at the college, she doesn't seem to be upset at all! So what happened during the intermission between that particular time, to the conflict, that had changed her mood suddenly?  
  
Just then, he realized something. Qing He. He might be able to shown some light through this darkness. Without wasting more time, he quickly jumped of from the railing and walked out of the rooftop.  
  
Using the F4 influence for the first time in his life, he was able to locate Qing He in 10 minutes time. "I need to talk to you," he whispered once he stood beside Qing He at the second floor stairs. The shocked Qing He, nodded vigorously, not a single sound was able to come out from his throat. "Follow me."  
  
Standing in front of the lake, he faced Qing He who stood behind him with his mouth opened, still shocked by the sudden approached from one of the F4. It was funny to see him like that but he has something more important to settle.  
  
"Did you saw Shan Chai two days ago at about noon?" he asked directly.  
  
"Ye...yes. I wanted to know whether the rumors of her going out with.with you were true. But she just looked blurred and stunned by the question, like she has no idea who you were or even what F4 was. So I showed to her who the famous F4 were. Instead of explaining to me about the rumors, she looked really shocked and ran. Well, to think about it, she looked more upset than shock. After that, I heard rumors that she scolded the F4. I asked about it but she just dismissed me and warned me not to mentioned F4 in front of her again. Were the rumors true Mr. Hua Zhe Lei? Not that I want to intrude or anything, or invade your privacy but she's my best friend and furthermore, I really admire and adore F4. All of you are really famous and cool. May I join in? Maybe I could get to hang out with all of you? Mr. Hua Zhe Lei? Excuse me, Mr. Hua Zhe Lei. Hello?"  
  
He stopped listening to Qing He's blabbers when he finally acknowledged the reasons behind the incident. 'She didn't know I was a part of F4. So that is the reason she made the remarks towards Ah Si and me back then. She must have thought I was planning to toy her around like Ah Si. Oh! Shan Chai. How you have wronged. I need to see her and explained. Now, how do I make her to see me without giving her the chance to runaway?' After awhile he smiled. He had the answer. Looking back at the puzzled Qing He, he smiled.  
  
"Thank you for your help. And, don't call me Mr.," he said as he walks away.  
  
"Wait! Mr. . Hua Zhe Lei, how about it? Can I?"  
  
He just smiled and walked on. He has to hurry. His heart fluttered happily. He now has a way to clear the muddy situation he has been for the past two days.  
  
~~  
  
"So, Ah Si, what are your plans now? Until now, not one of your plans worked, instead it backfired. Time is ticking away you know," asked Xi Men while drinking coffee by the poolside at Ah Si's mansion.  
  
Ah Si sat opposite of Xi Men glumly, staring straight at his cup. Sighing, he looked up to Xi Men. "I have no idea wooing a girl would be this difficult."  
  
"That is no particular girl, Ah Si. She is very weird and different! All my life as a playboy, I have never seen any other girl like her. She is one tough cookie." Xi Men shook his head.  
  
"Eh! Where is Mei Zhuo?" asked Ah Si. "He's fetching Jing from the studio. Never knew he could be this caring."  
  
"Jing's staying here for good? She finished her degree, right?" Xi Men nodded. "Yup! But, most probably she's going back to further her studies again. When that time comes, I would have to hang out with you then, since Mei Zhuo would probably be too busy making trips to France frequently."  
  
"I'm happy for them. I just hope Mei Zhuo would truly change this time and be serious of this relationship. It would break my heart to punch him on the face if he didn't," said Ah Si, smiling, followed by Xi Men.  
  
"Punch whose face? I want to join too," said Mei Zhuo upon entering the room with Jing by his side. "Yours!" blurt out Xi Men and Ah Si at the same time. "What? Why me? What did I do?" Mei Zhuo frowned.  
  
"They are just teasing you, dear," smiled Jing. Mei Zhuo looked at Jing's face and smiled. Taking her hand, he ushered her to the seat between Xi Men and his. "Okay now, I just had this idea on how to make amend with that freaky girl, Ah Si," announced Mei Zhuo after he sat down.  
  
"Well? What is it?" asked Ah Si anxiously. "Why don't we let Jing befriends with her so that she could clear things up?"  
  
"Actually, from what I have heard from Mei Zhuo, I really would like to know her myself, not because I want to help you win the bet Ah Si, which I think is really childish. I can't believe Mei Zhuo is involved in this too," cut in Jing. Mei Zhuo smirked to her remarks. Even Xi Men sneered. Ah Si sat up and smiled. "Whatever is your reason, I don't mind Jing. Just find out for me what the real problem is and help me cool her down. I can't win if I can't even have a decent conversation with her." Jing nodded in agreement.  
  
"So, where is Lei?" asked Jing. "He's at home. He said he has some important business to attend to. I have no idea what. He has been really secretive nowadays," explained Xi Men. "He has always been like that all this time but now, he is getting harder to cope with. Always missing," agreed Mei Zhuo. Jing nodded, agreeing with the statement. There was silence for a second. "Getting to know her would be on my own turf. None of you are allowed to interfere, okay. Just wait for the result. Now, tell me what you know about her," planned Jing.  
  
~~  
  
After the last class, she quickly headed to the cake house where she works, not stopping by the house first. She was supposed to fill in for Xiao You that evening and surely, she was waiting for her arrival now. Looking at her watch, she stepped forward even faster. She was already 10 minutes late.  
  
"Xiao You, sorry. I left as soon as the class was dismissed but I'm still late. Very-very sorry," apologized Shan Chai when she reached the cake house. Xiao You smiled and shook her head. "It's okay. I still have some time left. The club meeting starts at two. I still have half an hour more to go. Well, I have to go now. Bye Shan Chai!" She was relieved she didn't cause any trouble for Xiao You. Putting on her uniform, a tapped felt on her shoulder. Swirling around, she saw Xiao You was still there.  
  
"I'm off now Shan Chai. Thanks for filling me in even though you're not supposed to work today. I'll pay you back next time. Oh! By the way, see that customer at the corner there? He has been coming in here for the past five days at alternate time; order the same green tea cake and a cup of coffee. He'll stay for about an hour and leave, without touching the cake. The only thing he did was looking out the window and play with the box in front of him. He's been the hot topic now since he's cute and mysterious. We would really like to know what he is waiting for. Some of the girls think that he's waiting for his girlfriend to propose to her. Since, I'm not working today, can you watch him and if anything happens, tell me okay. We're dying to know what his motive is. Well, have to go now. Take care, Shan Chai. Any different action, call me okay. Bye!"  
  
Shan Chai just smiled and waved at her friend. 'She is so childish. Emm. he can do what ever he wants. I am not going to look at him all shift long. However, his figure looks very familiar. If only I can see his face. I have been away for a week and this is the only big thing she tells me?' She chuckled at the thought and continued with her work.  
  
"Excuse me? Can I have another cup of coffee?"  
  
'Ha! That voice.' She quickly turned to face the customer. In front of her at the other side of the counter, a familiar face was smiling at her. "You!"  
  
"Yes, me, Hua Zhe Lei. Glad you still remember."  
  
"What do you want? I told you not to disturb me ever again," she hissed. "I need a place to drink coffee."  
  
"It's you isn't it? The person that came here for the last five days. Don't tell me you need to drink coffee everyday here. Don't your servants know how to make one?" She tried her best to keep her voice as low as possible.  
  
"Okay, the truth is I came here everyday just to have the chance to catch you here. To explain."  
  
"No need! I don't want to hear. Drink this coffee and go. Don't ever come here again." She cut in and shoved the coffee to him.  
  
"Shan Chai, I'll go if you only would accept this. I will keep coming until you do. Please?" She stared straight into his eyes.  
  
'He looked really sad and full of hope. I missed him but I still can't forgive him for what he did. He is a real actor. Don't fall for his sympathetic act, Shan Chai.' She looked at the blue, small box he put on the counter, and then looked back at him. "What's this? You better not give me anything funny."  
  
"It's not what you think. Take it and you'll understand. Opened it when you reached home. Please take it," pleaded Lei.  
  
"Fine! Now, go away." She took it and put it in her jeans hip pocket. "Thank you. Here's the payment for my bill. I'll leave. Hope you'll make the right decision Shan Chai," he smiled sadly, as he gives the money. She took it without looking at him.  
  
He walked out of the store without looking back, while she stole a glance of him. 'Hua Zhe Lei, I miss you. If only you knew how hard it has been. You've broken my heart. You played with my feelings but no matter how hard I've tried to forget you and keep on being mad, I can't. I. I. I can't lie to my own feelings. Oh! Lei. why?"  
  
She looked down as she pulled out the box from her pocket. It was rectangle, quite thin and was wrapped nicely with a blue wrapper and a small ribbon at the right top corner. Putting it back inside her pocket, she sighed and took back the coffee Lei left behind.  
  
~~  
  
Lying on his back, he looked straight to the ceiling. Tomorrow would be the day.the day he gets to know her decision. He became restless. His heart was not at ease. Never had he felt so useless before. Closing his eyes, he saw her face. She has soft, supple skin. Her small, clear eyes, glitters every time she smiled, like a small kid. The thin, pink curvy lips that he longed to kiss, her cute button nose and her long, straight black hair that she always loved to braid, was so clear as if she was standing there right in front of him, throwing him her warm sweet smile.  
  
'Would she forgive me? Would she come tomorrow? What if she didn't? What would I do? Would I be able to live with that? Crushed for the second time. would I be able to handle it?' He sighed, turning his body to the right. After a few more restless position changes, he finally fell asleep, drowning in a deep slumber dream.  
  
He found himself walking by the seashore alone at night when he saw a small, human-like shadow ahead of him. Curious, he walks closer to the figure and under the moonlight; he finally saw it was Shan Chai.  
  
She was wearing a shiny, silver color gown that glitters under the moonlight with her hair hang loose on her shoulder. She was standing straight facing him. Seeing it was Shan Chai, he runs straight towards her and hugged her tightly.  
  
"I knew you'd come Shan Chai. I missed you so much. Please don't cut me out of your life again. I can't bear to loose you," he whispered to her ear. Pushing him away slowly, she looked straight to his eyes. Studying her face closely, he felt something was amiss. She looked solemn and he could swear he saw tears formed in her eyes. "What's wrong Shan Chai? Aren't you glad to see me? You have forgiven me, right? Answer me Shan Chai," he panicked. He didn't like this whole situation.  
  
Shan Chai looked down and sobbed. "I'm sorry, Lei. I can't. We're from two different worlds. You didn't tell me before and I fell for you. But now I knew, and I'm sorry to break away. I have to go, Lei. Just know that my heart has already filled by love for you. You're the first, Lei. Sorry, it has to end like this."  
  
Looking back into his eyes with her watery, tearful glaze, she caresses his face with both her hands and kissed him on the lips, briefly, before putting her hand to his heart. "Remember me," she whispered before evaporated into thin air.  
  
"NO! Shan Chai, don't leave me. I didn't mean to lie to you. Shan Chai, come back! I need you!" Falling down to his knees, he cried. Crying for the love he has missed because of his own mistake. "Shan Chai."  
  
He sat up on his bed awaken by the dream. Touching his right cheek, he felt it was wet. 'The dream was so real. Please don't let it be like that. She means too much to me.' He stayed awake the night away until morning.  
  
~~  
  
Upon reaching home that night, she was discontented. She holds out the box Lei had given to her that evening and put it on her bed. 'Should I open it? What could it be? Surely, it's nothing expensive since he said it was not. But again, why should I believe him?' she thought. Sitting next to it, she took it up again and looked at it. She hesitated, unable to make up her mind whether to open it or let it be. 'I better go and shower first. Maybe I could make a decision then.'  
  
"It's okay mom. I don't want dinner tonight. I would just like to go straight to bed now. Goodnight mom," she told her mother after she had had her shower. Her mother must've awakened by the sound of water due to the shower. She kissed her mother goodnight and went straight to her room. Drying her hair, she took the box again and decided to open it. Inside, she saw a piece of paper and a cassette. Flipping the paper opened, she read the writings on it.  
  
"Shan Chai, I'm not good at expressing my feelings, even with words, but, 'sorry' came directly from my heart. Listen to the cassette and hopefully you'll understand the message I'm trying to tell you. Seek your heart and if you find a piece of forgiveness for me, I'll wait for you at our usual place tomorrow. I'll wait till you come. Lei."  
  
Popping the cassette inside her walkman, she listened to it. Without her knowing it, tears came running down her cheek. 'This song was so sad. I could feel his emotion when he wrote and played this piece with his violin. He was feeling really down, lonely, confused and sad. His asking for my forgiveness. Should I forgive him? Should I confront him? Or should I just ignore it? What should I do?' she asked herself.  
  
"Ahhh.this is so hard! I'm going to sleep it over. What ever I feel tomorrow, will be the answer," she said out loud, giving up and falls her body backward on the bed.  
  
~~  
  
He waited on the rooftop as early as 7 a.m. Never has he gone to college that early in the morning. He was anxious. The dream he had yesterday night really bothered him. What if she came to say goodbye like in the dream? He was afraid. Afraid of the incoming event. He sat down, leaning on the railing, waiting for her.  
  
He told himself that he is going to wait here until she comes, no matter how long it would take. Nothing would move him from this rooftop, not even F4. He left his mobile phone purposely at home, not wanting to receive any disturbance from them.  
  
~~  
  
Changing into her uniform, she glanced to the seat Lei had sat the day before. 'It's already 2. Would he still wait for me?' She did go up to the rooftop that morning and peeked through the doorframe. He was there, his head looking up to the sky, waiting for her. But, she couldn't make herself to open the door and so, she left. 'He did write down that he'll wait. But I don't think he is that stupid to wait for me the whole day, would he?'  
  
"You're starting to wander as well, right? So, you're sure nothing happened yesterday?" asked Xiao You. She snapped back to reality and nodded. "Nothing happened. He just left soon after that, just like you said," she lied. She's not in the mood for questions from Xiao You if she told her the truth.  
  
Working has put aside her thought of Lei for a while until she finished her shift and was on the way back home. 'It's 10 at night now, I don't think he would wait this long. Oh well! He probably thought I am not worth waiting for and left anyway. Why would he care about a poor kid like me? He could have all the beautiful girls in the world, so, there is no reason for him to wait for my forgiveness. Maybe it was only a joke for him, to see whether I would come to his command,' she told herself, trying to assure that her decision was correct. Deep down she knew it was all a lie. She knew she had forgiven him but her ego was too hard to smash.  
  
Suddenly, she felt her cheek wet. She looked up and felt other water drops starting to pour down. Running towards the nearest bus stand, she sheltered herself from the rain. Looking towards the direction of Ying De, she felt a sting of guilt. She had a feeling that he was still waiting for her in the rain. Without thinking, she followed her heart content and ran in the rain that has turned from shower to cats and dogs.  
  
Soaking wet, she reached Ying De just to find that the main gate were still open wide without any guard in sight. She looked around. Feeling safe, she dashed through the gate and went straight towards the rooftop. Climbing the stairs, she began to have doubts.  
  
'What if he was not there? I would have made a fool of myself. Maybe this is a big mistake. But, what if he was? He'll get pneumonia for staying under the rain. Okay then, I'll just peek and if his there, I'll enter, if not, I'm going back. At least my conscience would be at ease.'  
  
Peeking through the doorframe, she saw Lei's figure still sitting at the same position as before. 'Oh my god! He still waits for me? It has already been more than 12 hours. He is so stupid.' Even as she thought that, she was touched by his determination and persistency. All of her anger just disappeared as if it has been washed away by the rain.  
  
She opened the door and walked slowly towards Lei. The rain was heavy, she couldn't see him that clear. When she was near to him, she saw him propping one leg up, and rested his head on his forearm that was set across his knee. She kneeled down in front of him and placed her hand on his forearm. "Lei."  
  
His head arose and he looked straight at her. She has never seen him that empty before. A tear dropped from her eye. His condition was so pitiful. They stared into each other's eyes in the rain, when he suddenly lunged forward and hugged her.  
  
"Please say that you won't go away. I'm sorry for everything. Stay with me. I. I. I missed you, Shan Chai. Forgive me." Hearing those words, she cried even harder.  
  
Nodding, she whispered back, "I forgive you and I miss you too, Lei."  
  
After staying that way for quite some time, Lei finally let go. Wiping her tears and the raindrops from her face, he smiled. "We better get out from this weather or we'll catch a cold." Smiling, she helped him up. "Sorry, my leg fell asleep," he apologized. "You haven't moved did you?" she asked. Walking slowly towards the door, he said, "What if you come when I wasn't around? So, I stayed. I'm not taking any chances." She looked at his face, awed. 'I'm glad you stayed too.' 


	6. New Friendship

Chapter 6: New Friendship  
  
"I don't think your parents would approve of me dropping you off looking all drenched like this. Maybe you ought to come over to my house first and dried off," suggested Lei.  
  
She looked at him and looked down to herself, she guessed it was probably right. Nodding in agreement, she followed Lei to his car. 'Eh! This is a Mercedes, not the Porsche from last week. How many cars do Lei owned?'  
  
"The Porsche was Ah Si's. I borrowed it from him since my car was in the workshop for repair. You don't think I'd buy myself a Porsche, do you?"  
  
Lei's word startled her. 'How did he do that? How can he know what I was thinking? Sometimes, he creep me out. Well, to think about it, Porsche doesn't really suit Lei's personality.' She smiled at him. "You really have to tell me one day how you did that? Reading my thoughts like that."  
  
Opening the passenger's door for her, he said, "One day, maybe. Let it be a secret for now."  
  
"You are really mysterious and unpredictable, Hua Zhe Lei," commented Shan Chai, entering the car. Lei smiled at the comment.  
  
Lei drove all the way to his house in silent and so does Shan Chai. Both are lost in their own thoughts. 'Hope mom wouldn't hit the ceiling when she heard I'm off to a boy's house. Not that we would be alone. one would think he'd have maids or servants. I would be safe there. I trust him though.'  
  
"Okay, we're here."  
  
"Oh my! Tha... that is your house? That's not a house, that's a mansion!"  
  
"Well, it's not mine really. It's my family's. We had another one in Japan too since my parents practically live there and that my father's business was based there. I'm just here to complete my studies at Ying De."  
  
The entrance to the house itself was magnificent and breathtaking. At each side of the road, there are hedges shaped as rabbits and deers, with lights covered all over them. Each one in different form. Upon reaching the main door, she saw that the house was a three-storey bungalow that was huge enough to fit five or maybe six family of eight. It was so big and divided into three blocks.  
  
"Welcome home, young master Lei," welcomed a man in a long black suit, opening the door to their arrival. She can't help to feel awed and surprised by the huge main entrance of the house. The ceiling was so high above her heads with a big gold chandelier hanging in the middle of the entrance. There are paintings of the blue sky on the left and the paintings of sunset on the right side of the ceiling, and the walls have beautiful flowery designs crafted at the edges. 'Oh my god! This looks like the picture of a palace I saw in one of those property magazines. The inside was more exquisite than the outside. What does his father do anyway?' she questioned herself.  
  
"Boon Seng, please show Miss Shan Chai the bathroom so that she can clean herself up and give her one of my clothes for her to change into."  
  
"Right away, master Hua Zhe Lei. Come with me Miss."  
  
Nodding her head to Lei, she followed the butler's steps. ~~  
  
He entered his room and sat on the bed. Smiling, he can't believe Shan Chai was actually in his house.  
  
"I forgive you and I miss you too, Lei." The flashback of the previous event on the rooftop came to his mind. 'She forgave me. and she missed me too. Does that mean she. I better not put my hopes too high.'  
  
He changed his wet clothes and went downstairs. Sitting on the sofa in the living room, he dozed of while waiting for Shan Chai.  
  
"Lei."  
  
Upon hearing the lovely voice, he opened his eyes and saw the owner of the voice he missed all this while was standing in front of him wearing his khakis and shirt. The clothes were too big for her. The khakis looked like a long pant and the shirt was big enough to be her nightgown. He couldn't help smiling looking at her and her frowned face. "Don't laugh! You don't have anything smaller? These clothes make me look like a clown."  
  
He shook his head. "My last year's clothes have been donated to the orphanage. Furthermore, I'm the only child. Don't worry. Let us eat something first before I buy you something more to your size, okay?"  
  
"You don't have to buy me anything. I'll just wait for my clothes to dry."  
  
"I don't think you'll have it back. I've asked them to throw it away."  
  
"What?! How can you do that? Those clothes were mine! You have no right!! By the way, there are no more shops opened at this hour, and I need to get home."  
  
He had known her reaction would be like this but he kept smiling. 'The look on her face was so adorable even when she was angry. If only she knows that I did not throw her clothes away, she would probably be more furious than this. I want to keep it. to conserve it for tonight. To ensure me that tonight did happen.'  
  
"Don't you worry about that. Let's eat. I've asked the cook to make something for us." He took her hand and led her to the kitchen. The cook has made them chicken soup and croissant. The soup looked so delicious and since he didn't have anything for the whole day, he ate it instantly. "Aaaa. gomen nasai. I'm so hungry that I totally forgot about you. Come, join me. It's really delicious, you know."  
  
She sat next to him and eats. "This is so delicious. Remember to remind me to thank the cook later," she said. "Lei, you really know how to speak Japanese?  
  
"Emm. I learned it since I was 4," he answered, looking straight at her. He watched her eat, unable to believe his eyes that she really was sitting next to him.  
  
"What? Don't just look at me. Finish your soup. It's already late. My parents would be worried if I'm still not home."  
  
"Yes, madam," he joked. She smiled to his respond.  
  
On the way to Shan Chai's house, they stopped in front a Giordano shop that seems to have opened just for him. He asked her to wait in the car and bought her a blue dress, a pair of white slacks and a pink blouse. 'I think these would suit her best. Can't wait to see her in them. Hope she'll like them,' he thought.  
  
"These are for you. It would be the exchange for your clothes that I've thrown. Hope it would fit you perfectly," he said, handing the paper bag containing the clothes to her.  
  
"I'm only taking this because you threw my clothes away, okay. Next time, don't easily throw other people's things away," she commented, making an upset look.  
  
"Okay, I promise. Don't be angry with me anymore."  
  
She turned towards him and stuck her tongue out. "Fooled you didn't I? Hahahaha... you should see your face. You are really worried that I'm mad at you, aren't you? I'm just kidding. But, I meant what I have said. Don't make other people's things as you pleased just because you are rich," she said.  
  
He put his free hand on hers. "I'll do that. And, Shan Chai, thank you for giving me another chance. I promise not to hurt you anymore." Blushing, she just nodded her head. ~~  
  
"Shan Chai, you're back? Why are you so late today? Huarrgghh. I heard a car stopped in front our house. Someone sent you back? Who was it? Is everything okay? Why are you dress like this? These clothes are too big for you. I don't remember you owning them." "Ma, I'm okay. It was raining so heavily. A friend of mine saw me standing under the bus stop and picked me up. He took me to his house so that I could change to something dry and then he sent me straight home."  
  
"HE? You went to a boy's house? At night? Who was it? You're a girl. It is not appropriate for a girl to go to a boy's house at night especially when you don't have any relationship with him," nagged her mother.  
  
"His name is Hua Zhe Lei. He is a very nice person and we did not do anything wrong. We're not alone either," explained her.  
  
"HUA ZHE LEI? HUA ZHE? The Hua Zhe Insurance Corp.? You are friends with the heir of Hua Zhe family? Darling, darling, wait until you here this. Darling." exclaimed her mother while running towards her bedroom, anxious to tell her father. 'Oh boy. I know I shouldn't tell her his name. She practically keeps track of all the rich families in Taiwan.' She quickly entered her room and locked it. Her parents would surely ask her questions if she stayed behind.  
  
Inside her room, she took out the clothes Lei has given her. 'This is so beautiful. How did he have guessed my size? Two pair? I'd have to give him back. he threw only one suit of my clothes, I really shouldn't take more than that from him. Emmm. I like this dress. I think I'll choose this one. His pretty smart to get rid of the price tag first.' Putting on the dress, she stood in front of the mirror and stare at it. The dress fits nicely. Smiling, she thanked Lei in her heart.  
  
She was feeling really happy and glad. The first in two weeks. Her feelings felt calm, now that she has finally overcome her ego and follow her heart. It felt good to be friends again with Lei. She doesn't know his feelings towards her though but it's enough for her to be close again with him.  
  
'I have never known I could have these feelings towards a guy. Lei, no matter if you don't have the same feelings as mine, but as long you are near me, that is good enough for me. I don't want to be apart from you again, Lei. When you stayed there, waiting for me, I am so glad that you too missed me and made the first move to settle the crisis between us. If only I could tell him this. huh,' she sighed. ~~  
  
Dressing up that morning was easy. She knows instantly what to wear, the blue dress Lei gave her. Posing in front of the mirror, she imagined the look on Lei's face when he saw her in it. Smiling widely, she took the pink lip-gloss and applied it onto her lips. Braiding her hair and tied it up with a dark blue ribbon, she smiled satisfyingly to herself. 'I think I look presentable enough. What time is it? Oh no! It's already 7.50. I am going to be late for class. Wonder if he'll be there today.oh well, if he's there, he's there. If not, who am I to say.'  
  
She was practically late when she entered the classroom but to her surprised, another teacher was occupying the classroom she was supposed to have. The most stunningly, gorgeous and attractive woman was teaching in front of the classroom. "Good morning, Miss Shan Chai I presumed," said the teacher. "Yes, ma'am. I am really sorry I'm late. I can explain, but isn't now supposed to be Mr. Chen's class?"  
  
Smiling, the teacher explained, "Yes, it is. However, I was asked to give a lecture on grooming to this class. We were just going to pick a volunteer when you finally decide to join in. Maybe you'd be our volunteer then. Stand beside me now, and let us begin."  
  
Unable to refuse, she stood by her side. 'How come I didn't know about this? You got into this mess all by yourself, Shan Chai. Being late again. you deserve this for being tardy.'  
  
"Now, let us look at Shan Chai. The dress she wore matched her small, slim figure that made her looked more slender and less petite. Blue made her look fresh and sweet. However, the way she set her hair and choice of shoe is not well matched with the dress. Now class, what would you recommend?" she asked while putting her hand on Shan Chai's shoulder.  
  
'Never has anyone compliments me of anything before. Who is she? She looks too young to be a lecturer.'  
  
"Miss Teng, she is too plain and unattractive. Why should she be the volunteer? Even if she changed her way of dressing, put on make up, she will never be the same as the rest of us," argued one of her classmates.  
  
She was not surprised they felt that way. They were never a friend to her from the beginning. However, she was surprised to hear the feedback from Miss Teng.  
  
"Everybody is special in their own way. You may say that Shan Chai here is plain and unattractive but some may find her very much attractive and beautiful. Maybe it is the inner beauty that shone through that you may not notice. Never underestimated other people especially if you don't know them in person. To make it more interesting, I will groom Shan Chai and present her to you tomorrow. As for today, class is dismissed," Miss Teng told the whole classroom.  
  
She stared at Miss Teng. 'What is she trying to prove? I will never be beautiful, much less attractive.'  
  
"Shan Chai, come with me."  
  
"Where are going, miss? I have another class in another hour, furthermore I have other appointments." 'I want to meet Lei. He may be waiting for me.'  
  
"I want you to meet some of my friends. Well, if you have other appointments, we could ask them to send you there and wait till you're done." 'She is so persuasive! I can't seem to get away. I'm so sorry Lei. Hope you won't wait for me,' she sighed.  
  
"It's okay. I'll just postpone it to some other time. But, Miss Teng, I do have other classes to attend to." Still smiling, Jing took her in hand and said, "Don't you worry about it. I've settled that for you. You will get today's notes for all of your classes at the end of the day. Even your attendance wouldn't be deducted, and, call me Jing okay?"  
  
'She is so weird. What does she mean she has settled it for me? Why is she acting very friendly towards me? I hardly know her! This whole thing is a real blur. Now, how am I going to get out of this mess?' she thought, staring at Jing, unknowing how to react to the sudden affection from Jing.  
  
They got to the café minutes later. She noticed that other students are staring at them. 'Don't tell me that she's another known person in college... Oh boy! Surely, they are going to make up another gossip about this. Why am I suddenly being the most wanted 'friend' among the hotshots of this college?' she quizzically thought.  
  
She bumped into Jing's back when she suddenly stopped. "Sorry!" Jing just shook her head, gesturing that it's okay. She looked around and suddenly, she spotted a group of familiar faces at one of the tables.  
  
'Uh oh. that's F4. Please don't let it be them... please,' she hoped secretly. However, her fear came true when Jing waved and pulled her along towards the group.  
  
"Hi guys! Sorry I'm late. I have someone to introduce to all of you. Eh! Where's Lei?"  
  
"Missing as always. I've left a message on his phone. He'll come by later, probably," answered the one called Mei Zhuo, if she's not mistaken.  
  
"Hmm. I'll have a talk with him later. Anyway, this is Shan Chai. She's in my grooming class. I'm going to groom her and change her into the most stunning girl in class, and you guys have the pleasure to be the judge. Shan Chai, the one wearing spectacles is Xi Men, the one with the flowery shirt is Mei Zhuo and the last person here is Dao Ming Si. The other person is called Hua Zhe Lei. Maybe you've heard of them before. They are called F4," introduced Jing, pushing her in front of everyone.  
  
She tried to smile and be nice to them for the sake of Jing, but, the reaction she received from them changed her mind. Mei Zhuo and Xi Men looked at her with a sly, cunning smile on their faces while Ah Si, seemed to be ignoring her.  
  
"Face and figure like her.stunning? Ha! Good Luck!"  
  
PHAK!!  
  
Without her noticing it, she already smacked Ah Si on the head with the textbook she's holding. "OWWW!!!" Rubbing his head, Ah Si glared at her. "Stupid woman. can't you tell that I'm just joking? You're too serious."  
  
"That's joking? You called that a joke? Quite a sense of humor, eh. You're the one that is stupid!"  
  
"Who are you to call me stupid? I'm Dao Ming Si, the heir of the Dao Ming family and a man with."  
  
"SENSE! Yeah, we know!" exclaimed the other three, who has been watching the two of them quarrelling.  
  
Realizing that she was the center of attraction, she sheepishly smiled towards the other three. "I'm sorry err. Miss Jing, Mr. Xi Men and Mr. Mei Zhuo."  
  
"Ha ha ha ha! Stop it! Don't be too formal with us. just call us by our names, okay Shan Chai?" said Xi Men, laughing at her formality.  
  
"Now, the two of you shake hands and apologize. Let us all be friends, okay? Ah Si?" asked Jing.  
  
"Okay, okay! Shan Chai, I'm sorry for all the things I've done to you. Can we be friends?" apologized Ah Si, holding out his hand. Looking at his hand and the faces around her, she took his hand and nodded. "I'm sorry too."  
  
"Okay now, since all of us are already friends, let's get going."  
  
"Going? Where to?" she asked.  
  
"Stupid girl. just follow and stop asking questions," kidded Ah Si, playfully ruffled her hair. "Don't call me stupid, stupid!" She hit him slightly on the arm, smiling. The rest of the group also laughed at their childish act.  
  
"Where is everybody going?" A sullen voice suddenly heard.  
  
Everybody turned around to the direction of the voice. To her surprised it was Lei. She smiled at him, pleased to meet him even at a different condition, but it seemed that he just looked blankly at her. 'Why does he look so different? So serious and moody? He doesn't even smiled back. he acted as if he doesn't even knows me.'  
  
"Lei! Where have you been? We've been searching high and low for you. You're always M.I.A. Anyway, this is Shan Chai. All of us are going over to Ah Si's house. Jing wants to make a makeover for Shan Chai and we are going to be the judge, isn't that fun? Glad you could make it here in time," said Xi Men cheerfully, grabbing Lei on the shoulder.  
  
Looking straight at her, without any greet or even a smile, he freed himself from Xi Men and walked away. "Lei!" called out Jing.  
  
Blinking her eyes, she can't seem to believe the person that has just left was Lei. He was so much different from the Lei he knew. Deep down, Lei's attitude hurt her. 'Why must he act like he doesn't know me? Has he forgotten all about me? Even yesterday?'  
  
"Sorry about Lei, Shan Chai. He doesn't socialize much with other people. Even with us, he kept his feelings to himself. But, he's a great a person and friend, in his own way that is," said Mei Zhuo, trying to comfort her.  
  
She smiled at him and the rest of the group. Shockingly, Ah Si took her hand and dragged her out of the café. "Let's go." 


	7. Secrecy

Chapter 7.0: Secrecy  
  
He sat in his car, confused and startled by the occurrence that had just took place. He didn't meant to act that way, not at his Shan Chai, but he doesn't know what has triggered him to do so. One thing for sure, he was feeling a bit frustrated.  
  
'I've waited for her and in return, she hang out with Jing and F3? Smiling and playfully punching Ah Si as if she had known him for so long. Didn't she hate him? What changed her mind? Is that why she neatly dressed up and wore the dress I gave her? For them? Since when did they become friends? How did that happen? When did they start to blend together? If she starts to hang out with us, how should I interact with her? As a new friend? Just a friend? How about our secrets and memories together? Has she forgotten all about it? What if Ah Si finally melt her down?'  
  
"Arrggghhh!!!" He hit the steering wheel in aggravation. There are too many questions in his head that he has no answer to. But, he's certainly not going to let Ah Si hurt his Shan Chai and take her away from him. He has lost one, he's not losing another. Not to another friend! Absolutely not if it meant that she's going to be suffering from it!  
  
He was just about to start the engine when he saw F3, Jing and Shan Chai came out from the café and heading towards their cars. To his surprised, Ah Si was holding onto Shan Chai's hand and she was actually okay with it. 'BACHI! Ah Si, you are fast! Shan Chai, how could you?' he cursed in silence.  
  
Getting out of the car, he slammed shut the door hard. Everyone looked at him, startled by the sudden bang.  
  
"Yo, Lei! You're still here. Thought you've gone off. Decide to join us?" called out Mei Zhuo, walking towards him.  
  
He brushed past by Mei Zhuo, which stunned Mei Zhuo in the process. Right now, his only target was Ah Si. He stood in front of him, staring straight into his eyes. "Lei." aghast Jing slowly.  
  
"I need to talk to you," he said, firmly. He looked down at the held hands and up again to meet Shan Chai's shocked gaze before he looked back at Ah Si. "Alone!"  
  
"What for?" asked Ah Si, frivolously. Shan Chai squirmed her hand free from Ah Si's and looked at Lei's face. Even the whole lot was looking at him, disbelieved by his change of attitude.  
  
Ignoring Ah Si's answer, he walked towards his car, 8 meters away and waited for him. Ah Si snorted, infuriated by Lei's behavior. 'He would surely be mad at me, but I'm not going to back out. F4 is dear to me but, I will not lose Shan Chai and let her be hurt by you, Ah Si.'  
  
"Well, what do you want?" uttered Ah Si once he stood in front of him, looking furious.  
  
"I want Shan Chai, so, let the best man win." Looking stunned, Ah Si shout out, "WHAT??"  
  
The others looked at them, wondering what was the conversation between them that made Ah Si cried out that loud.  
  
"I have said what I want to say. Let's make a deal. If I win her heart, you are going to leave her alone. No more revenge and you lose the bet. If you win, and I mean if, I would stay out of your business. You may do whatever you wish and I would keep shut about it. This deal is just between the two of us. No one should need to know about it, not even Xi Men, Mei Zhuo and Jing. Especially, not the bet herself. Do we have a deal?" explained Lei, holding out his hand.  
  
"Tell me again why I should make a deal with you?" asked Ah Si uninterested by the whole pact.  
  
"Are you afraid I'll win? Not confident enough of yourself, Ah Si?"  
  
"In your dreams, Lei. You have a deal. you asked for it now, so don't back out of it when you're losing," Ah Si agreed, shaking Lei's hand as a gesture of agreement.  
  
Nodding, Lei let go and walked over to the others, followed by Ah Si with his folded hands and frowned face. Standing in front of Shan Chai, he smiled slightly.  
  
"Aren't you going to introduce us properly, Jing?" he asked without moving his eyes of off Shan Chai. Shan Chai looked at him in disbelief. 'She must have a lot of questions about all of this. All will be answered, dear Shan Chai.'  
  
"Huh? Oh! Sorry. This is Shan Chai. Shan Chai, this is Hua Zhe Lei. She's my grooming student. I've made a point to the other students that she's stunning in her own way, so, I'm helping her to be one. The others have agreed to help me out as the judge to her transformation. How about you?"  
  
Still smiling, he nodded. 'Oh, that is how she met the others. through Jing. How shallow am I.' he realized. "Would you care to go to Ah Si's house with me?" he asked, holding out his hand to her and bowed, acted like a gentleman.  
  
Looking up, he saw that the others were shocked by his reaction. 'Hehehe. they sure are shocked by my sudden changed,' he chuckled to himself.  
  
"HEY! She's supposed to go with me. Get out of the way, Lei," shouted Ah Si, shoving Lei aside and grabbed Shan Chai's hand.  
  
"Oww! You're hurting me! Let go. It's up to me who I wished to go with and I want to go with Lei. Who are you to tell me with whom I could or couldn't go with?" argued Shan Chai, pulling her hand from Ah Si's. Taking Lei's hand, Shan Chai said, "Let's go, Lei."  
  
'Never had I felt as special as now.' Holding tight to Shan Chai's hand, they walked to his car.  
  
"What the heck happen to Lei? That's not like him at all. Going for a girl? Not his style before, so, what with the sudden change? Ah Si, what did he said to you just now? Did he say something about his change?" queried Mei Zhuo, watching the two drove by them.  
  
"Is he trying to grab away your girl, Ah Si?" asked Xi Men, confused. "SHUT UP! I'm not in the mood for questions. Let's go or I'll leave you," shouted Ah Si, furiously and stomped off.  
  
"What happened to the both of them? One suddenly turned so friendly and the other turned to be a grouch. Urrgghhh. I have a feeling things are going to turned pretty ugly," muttered Xi Men, whispered to Jing and Mei Zhuo. The two of them just nodded. They too confused by the difference in attitude of the two of them.  
  
~~~  
  
She broke the silence between them with the questions that kept popping through her mind. "What was that all about? Why are you acting as if you don't even know me? What have I done to deserve that kind of attitude from you?"  
  
"I was waiting for that question to be asked by you. Well, I had better explain it to you then.you deserve it." There was silent for a while before he continued.  
  
"Seeing you with them at the cafeteria really frustrates me. I was waiting for you at the roof and yet I saw you were having fun with them, ignoring me. How do you think I felt? Wearing the dress that I gave you and made up your hair nicely.furthermore, I thought you hated them? I thought you had it all planned out to be close with them and played me a fool." trailed off Lei.  
  
"But, I never." cut off Shan Chai.  
  
"Please, let me finished. okay, Shan Chai?" he asked, looking at her with a sad and gloomy look.  
  
"Ehmm." nodded Shan Chai slowly, still searching for the way to comfort Lei. She doesn't like him to be that way, though she was a bit mad by his accusation of her.  
  
"Despite of just being frustrated by it all, I felt a sting of jealousy. I don't want to share you with them. I want you to be happy just with me.you meant a lot to me, Shan Chai. You made me feel like I could be the real me, and I don't want to lose that. Well, there's more than just that. I was worried too. The others have no idea that I befriended you. We're good friends ever since we were little kids.if they knew I had been lying to them all this time, it would surely broke their heart and trust."  
  
Stopping to clear his throat, he continued, "I was confused, Shan Chai. I don't know what to do. acting to not knowing you seemed like a good choice at that particular time. Well, I know now that you never intended to hang around them. It was Jing. I should've known. She was always so friendly and kind with others. Could you forgive me, Shan Chai? For doubting you? For thinking bad of you? For confusing you? I am so sorry.truly sorry," ended Lei with an apology, still looking straight at the road.  
  
'I have never seen him this open about his feelings before. He must've been really mixed up with his feelings, till he can't really think straight and made all the assumptions in his head. My dear Lei, I didn't mean to make you feel like this.you don't know how special you're to me too, Lei,' she said to herself, looking caringly at Lei.  
  
Trying to comfort Lei, she put her hand on his when he changed the gear. Lei turned his head towards her. She squeezed his hand and said, "You meant a lot to me too, Lei. After yesterday, I promised myself to cherished and hold on tight to our special friendship. I don't want to let anything come between us but, today, without me knowing it, I did it again. I am so sorry, Lei. Sumimasen. did I pronounce that correctly?"  
  
Smiling, Lei let go of the gear and hold her hand. "You pronounce it like a true Japanese. Where did you learn it? Anyway, that is a formal way of saying sorry. Among friends, you could just say 'Gomen nasai'."  
  
"When I got to know that you knew Japanese, I surf the internet and learn it through the free Japanese lesson program online."  
  
"If you are interested in the language, I'd be happy to give free lessons to you too."  
  
"I want to learn it by myself first, but surely I'll ask for your tutoring once in awhile. Lei. I really am sorry for today. I wanted to see you but Miss Jing held me back. See, I even wore the dress that you gave me. Oh! By the way, you only threw away one set of clothes, why do you substitute it with two? Here, this is the other clothes. I'll take just this one, thank you," told Shan Chai while taking out the plastic bag containing the other apparels from her bag and put it at the back seat.  
  
"Shan Chai will always be Shan Chai." Lei said while caresses Shan Chai's head, with her giggling away.  
  
~~~  
  
"Where are they? They were ahead of us and they are still not here!" questioned Ah Si to the others. He walked back and forth in front of them, who sat lazily on the white leather sofa. Xi Men who started to get dizzy by Ah Si's act, picked up a magazine and read.  
  
"Ah Si, will you calmed down? She's with Lei, okay. Nothing will happen to them. He'll take care of her. You're starting to get to my nerve," advised Mei Zhuo.  
  
"That's the problem! She's with Lei!! Why did she picked him over me? What does he have that I don't? I'm more than he is. That Lei! If he's not here with her in 5 minutes time, I'm going out to look for them," grumbled Ah Si, pounding his fist to his open hand.  
  
Mei Zhuo just shook his head and sighed. Looking at Jing, who sat next to him, he nudged her to say something to Ah Si, to calm him down. He has a feeling Lei would be in big trouble unless somebody calmed the angry beast within Ah Si before he arrived.  
  
"Ah Si, please relaxed. She'd be here. Please sit down and read a magazine. I think, they must've stopped somewhere, maybe the petrol station. Stop worrying." pleaded Jing.  
  
Hearing Jing's plead, Ah Si finally stopped and sat. Mei Zhuo and Jing smiled. Even Xi Men took a peak from the magazine he's reading and sighed with relieved.  
  
Just then, they heard Lei's car arrived at the front porch. Ah Si stood up instantly and walked towards the main door.  
  
"Well, look who finally decides to join us," said Ah Si satirically.  
  
"Sorry we are late. We dropped by the Giordano boutique and bought a new outfit for her. What do you think about this, Jing?" apologized Lei. Ignoring Ah Si, he pulled Shan Chai along to gave Jing the outfit Shan Chai had just returned to him. Shan Chai looked at Lei, disbelieved by his action. 


	8. The Ups and Downs

Chapter 8: The Ups and Downs  
  
"What do you think of your new image, Shan Chai?" asked Jing, after making some last touches on her hair. 'Oh, my god! Is that me? That can't be me.' The reflection she saw in the mirror was too stunning that she, herself, can't believe it was really hers. Touching the mirror, to unsure herself that the mirror was real, she stared at the image, awed by the difference Jing made on her.  
  
Her hair was now wavy and even had bangs at front. Her lips were covered with shiny, glossy peach-colored lipstick, the eyes appeared larger than it usually was, mainly because of the dark colored eye shadow Jing used and her cheek appeared as if she was blushing. The makeup was not too thick and came out natural. It fits perfectly with her 'new' clothes, the pink blouse and white slacks.  
  
"Jing, thank you. I never thought I could ever look like this," she said, turning around to face Jing.  
  
"Shan Chai, you don't have to thank me. Just remember the techniques I taught you, you'd be able to create this new image of yours anytime you want to. You're beautiful Shan Chai, physically and emotionally. Just believe in yourself and the beauty will shine through no matter what your image is. Now, let's stun the guys." Taking Shan Chai's hand, Jing lead her downstairs.  
  
'I hope Lei will love this new look. How would he react? This is making me nervous,' said Shan Chai to herself.  
  
~~~  
  
He knew they were watching him even without taking his eyes off the magazine he was reading. "What is it that you want to ask me? About Shan Chai?" he asked, lazily.  
  
"Well now, smart aleck, tell me why the hell you are after a girl? Particularly Shan Chai, though you knew about the particular bet?" asked Xi Men, who sat beside him.  
  
"Yeah.and what you did have made Ah Si became.I don't know how to explain about him," agreed Mei Zhuo, still eyeing Ah Si, who eventually giving Lei a deadly stare.  
  
"I just want to be her friend. Isn't it about time for me to listen to your advice about girls?"  
  
"Listen here you! If you perform that stunt again, I will.." warned Ah Si, impatiently and violently throw away the magazine Lei's been reading and grabbed Lei's collar.  
  
With a numbed face, Lei shook Ah Si's hand of his collar and said, "You'll what, Ah Si? Punch me in the face? You are not being a gentleman, are you Ah Si?" For the second time in the same day, Lei has shocked his friends with his changed attitude.  
  
"What happen to you, Lei? You're acting strange. Where is the 'I don't care about other people's business' Lei? You're like this new person that we don't know. Is there something wrong?" asked Mei Zhuo, with a concerned expression.  
  
Looking over at Mei Zhuo and Xi Men, "Nothing's wrong. I'm just tired of being bossed around," he said, his eyes glanced over to Ah Si.  
  
"WHY YOU?!" Ah Si flared up, holding up his punch to Lei's face. Xi Men, who happens to be the nearest between the two, stood up and broke apart the disaster that might happen. "Stop it! Lei, you know how Ah Si is, stop provoking him. Ah Si, sit down. Calm yourself. We're best friends. Don't let this small matter come between us."  
  
Hearing to what Xi Men has said, Ah Si put down his clenched hand and glaringly fronting Lei, making a warning gesture to him before sat back down on the sofa. His eyes never left Lei's. "I don't know what is up with you, but you better watch yourself," whispered Xi Men to Lei before the both of them sat down.  
  
'He sure is mad with me. Either he really cares of the bet or he is just pissed off that I ignored him, but either way he really as hell furious at me. I don't care, as long as I'm with Shan Chai, he wouldn't have the chance to hurt her.'  
  
While he was thinking to himself, with the other's eyes still on him, Jing's voice heard.  
  
Standing on the upper edge of the stairs, Jing announced, "Gentlemen, let me introduce to you, the stunning, beautiful Shan Chai with a new look."  
  
Hearing to that, the four of them focused their sight to their stairs, waiting to catch the glimpse of the new Shan Chai. But, Shan Chai didn't come out after she was called. Jing made a gesture for her to stage forward.  
  
'She must've had the jitters,' he thought, still waiting to see his Shan Chai with the new appearance. Seconds after that, he saw her coming out to where Jing was standing. He was shocked to see her wearing 'his' clothes.  
  
'The clothes, the hair, the choice of color for the makeup, Jing has outdone herself. She really changed her. Shan Chai looked more vivacious, elegant, outstanding and more beautiful than ever. Though she's not as beautiful as Jing but, she really shines!' he told himself.  
  
Walking down the stairs, Shan Chai held on to Jing's hand, hiding herself behind Jing's back. "Well? What do you guys think? Doesn't she look elegant and refined? Hey! Snap out of it. I'm asking you a question," asked Jing, when there was no response from the four of them.  
  
Mei Zhuo stood up and walked towards Jing. "My dear darling, you're magnificent! Shan Chai looked really awesome. But don't worry, you will always be the most awesome, beautiful woman to me," expressed Mei Zhuo, teasing Jing at the same time.  
  
Jing pretended to be offended by the remark and playfully slap Mei Zhuo's arm. They laughed together.  
  
'She really seems happy with Mei Zhuo and Mei Zhuo treated her as if she was the only one for him. Mei Zhuo has really changed himself from a playboy to a one-woman man. I'm happy for her,' thought Lei, watching the couple, his once love of his life.  
  
"However, there is one thing that is still amiss. The shoes.. It doesn't fit at all. I need someone to take her shopping for them. No, Lei, let it be someone else. You already bought her the blouse and slack. Emm.Ah Shi, you go and buy for her," ordered Jing.  
  
He looked disbelievingly at Jing and so does Shan Chai. "Jing, but I don't.." said Shan Chai, trying to object.  
  
"Shan Chai, we need to make sure you are perfect from head to foot. Further on, you already know Lei, why not get to know the others? F4 is really nice and friendly, once you get to know them, that is. They love to put a show as this rich, powerful, gangster-like group in front of other people, especially Ah Shi, the so called leader of the group," explained Jing.  
  
Shan Chai looked over to Lei, trying to ask for help. Lei kept quiet and looked away from Shan Chai's gaze. 'I don't like it as much as you do, Shan Chai, but I just couldn't say no to Jing. I'm sorry Shan Chai.'  
  
Since Lei didn't say anything about it, Shan Chai, obligatory, just nodded her head. "Alright then, what are you waiting for, Ah Shi? Go and help her out with the shopping."  
  
Ah Shi stood up, a happy face shown on his face, but he quickly wiped it off when he noticed Xi Men and Mei Zhou were smiling teasingly at him. "You heard the lady. what are you waiting for? Let's go!" said Ah Shi, dully and walked off living Shan Chai behind.  
  
"Well, I have to go then. bye," said Shan Chai, a bit frustrated. She looked at the others and lingered her eyes for a while at Lei before she reluctantly follow Ah Shi's footsteps.  
  
Seeing her go off, Lei felt frustrated and angry with himself as well. He was hoping Shan Chai would give some fight about it but since she didn't, he was angry with himself for keeping silent about it. Since Shan Chai was no longer there, he stood up to go home.  
  
"Where do you think you're going?"  
  
"Home. Sleep," he answered short, not interested in making explanation.  
  
"Oh! No you don't. We demand to know what was wrong with you. And what did you say to Ah Shi before at Ying De? He changed right after that conversation!" demanded Jing.  
  
Stopping at his track, he turned and looked at Jing and the others. "Nothing. Just wanted to say to Ah Shi that I wanted to be San Chai's friend as well. And he reacted as if I wanted to make him lose the bet. No self-confidence at all. Now, can I go?"  
  
"I know there's more to that, Lei. You won't blurt it out, eh? Never mind.. I'll let it go, for now." said Jing, not easily fooled by Lei's answer.  
  
After that sentence, he left them. 'I know you can't be underestimate. You're always one step ahead of me. you understand me like the back of your hand.but guess what, Jing? This time, I'm not going to make it an easy guess for you. Don't forget, I also know you that well.'  
  
~~~  
  
She sat in the silver BMW in silence. She felt awkward to be together, alone, with him. Looking over him, she tried to think of a good opening conversation.  
  
'Oh, boy! How should I start this? I don't know him that well. I wish it were Lei and not him that has to take me shopping. He is so rude and grouchy sometimes. Not like Lei. I wonder why Lei avoided my eyes when Jing asked Ah Shi to take me shoe shopping. Why would he keep quiet about it, though he wanted to do it first? When I think I understood him, I have to reconsider it again. I don't think I would be able to understand him.'  
  
"Penny for your thought? You were looking at me but I sense that you really 'don't see me'. So, what is on your mind?" Ah Shi's voice broke the silence and brought her back to reality.  
  
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking why 'The Almighty, Great Master Dao Ming Shi' would follow Jing's order without any haste and took me 'the skinny, plain, poor weed Shan Chai' to shoe shop. It's not like you were happy to do it, anyway."  
  
"Stupid woman! No one could or able to order Master Dao Ming Shi around. I do it because of respect towards Jing even if it means have to take YOU out to shop for shoes," growled Ah Shi.  
  
"I KNEW IT! Then why must you take me then? Just drop me off here! I don't want to go with you either!!" screamed Shan Chai, angry with what Ah Shi said.  
  
Hearing her scream, Ah Shi's face changed into sadness. Still looking up straight, he said sadly, "You really don't like me do you? What does Lei have that I don't? Don't try to deny it.. I know you like him. He just said two to three sentences to you, you already willingly going out shopping with him. If he can, why can't I? I want to be your friend too."  
  
"Sorry." she apologized. 'I didn't know he was that sensitive. I really should give him a chance and also myself. Maybe after getting to know him better, I would understand him through all that roughness and rudeness. Well, Jing did say they were nice guys and they only act like that in front of others.'  
  
"I would be honored to be your friend, Almighty Master Dao Ming Shi," she proclaimed, smiling. Ah Shi took a glanced at her and grinned by the last remark. "Thank you. Okay now, let's go and buy that shoe."  
  
Ah Shi took her to some of the branded shoe shops, even though she objected, Ah Shi ignorantly dragged her in to all the shops. Every shoe that she looked at in the stores is more than her salary for a month at the café. She tried to persuade Ah Shi not to spend that much amount of money for her sake but he didn't listen and kept asking her to try out the shoes he picked. After two hours going in and out of stores and trying for about 30 to 40 types of shoes, Ah Shi finally approved of a cream streaked pink, party string shoe with a 4-inch heel and studded with reddish gem stones at each left side of the shoe.  
  
'What? This shoe? This high? Is he stupid? I can't wear this shoe to college. I'm not used to high-heels and look at the price! Stupid!'  
  
"Ah Shi, I'm not wearing this tomorrow. Even if I want to, it is possible for me to use while riding my scooter. Furthermore, it is way toooo.. expensive!" she declined.  
  
"Shut up! I'm paying it, not you and you're not going to college tomorrow with that old scooter of yours. I'll pick you up. Now, pick up that bag and let's go!"  
  
'Well, since you want to pay for it, I'll take it, stupid! I am not going to pay it back since I am not the one who wants it at the first place,' she said to herself.  
  
"I'll take you home. Now tell me the direction, if not tomorrow I wouldn't recognize the way to pick you up."  
  
Shan Chai nodded. She gave the direction to her house. It's at the edge of town and not at the most fancy part of housing premises. At every turn, Ah Shi would make disgusted sound, indicating his uneasiness of the area.  
  
"Okay, stop. This is my house. I know it's small compared to yours but the three of us, dad, mom and me lived happily here. This is my house and I love it. I don't care what you think of it but stop doing that awful, disgusting sound!"  
  
Getting out of the car, Ah Shi looked at the single-story terrace house with the wooden gate that has hole at some part of it. Making a sickened face, he looked over at Shan Chai. "YOU love THIS house? You must be kidding me.. anyway, I'm leaving. Not going to stay here long. Urgghhh.."  
  
Shan Chai put her hands on her hips and shouted at him, "STUPID, ARROGANT DAO MING SHI! You take that back!! Don't easily misjudge people just by their surrounding. You may not like the environment but the people living here is very kind, helpful, caring and the most loveable type of person you'll ever be or even imagine!! Go away!! Go back to where you belong.. the cold-hearted, fancy house with no love would survive in it. And don't even bother to come tomorrow!"  
  
Shan Chai pushed Ah Shi away, turned around and stormed into her house in rage.. not even glancing back to Ah Shi to watch him leave.  
  
Ah Shi, being an egoist as usual, hopped back in the car and fast reversed back to the main road. All the while his face were infuriated by the whole event that had just took place. 


	9. The Change

Chapter 9: Wind of Change  
  
"Stupid, stupid Dao Ming Shi. Who does he think he is? If he can't say nice things to other people, he better shut his mouth up. I can't believe I just accept him as my friend! I'm going to... What the? Mom, dad, what is going on here?" she asked, shocking to see that her parents are packing their clothes and some of the things in their house.  
  
"Shan Chai, you're here! Guess what? Your dad has been promoted as the new assistant store manager but. it's not here. We have to move to Yunlin. They are going to open up a new store there. That is why we're packing," her mom explained, still folding her clothes and put it inside the big bag in front of her.  
  
"Really? Yay! I'll go and pack now," Shan Chai happily answered back, hurrying to her bedroom to start on packing.  
  
Her father and mother stopped packing and looked at each other. Her father nodded his head to his mother who wore a worried face. Shan Chai saw the whole act and felt something was wrong.  
  
She doesn't like the look on her father and mother's expression. Looking back at Shan Chai, her mother said, with a low, sad tone, "Honey, you have to stay here and finish your study at Ying De."  
  
"But mom, I don't want to. I want to follow you. I don't want to be left behind. I'll be all alone. Where will I stay?" she protested, tears started to fill her eyes.  
  
Her mom stood up and hugged her. Both were crying and hugging, while her father looked up and wiped his eyes. The mother and daughter scene was too depressing. Finally, Shan Chai's mother broke loose and put both her hands on Shan Chai's face.  
  
"It's not that we were thrilled to finally get rid of you, you know," her mother said, smiling. Shan Chai and her father chuckled by the joke her mother just told.  
  
Her father stood up as well and joined the two. Hugging both of them, he said, "You both are the most special and important woman in my love. I can't bear to lose any of you." Kissing Shan Chai's forehead, Shan Chai added, "Especially mother, right?"  
  
Her father looked over to the mother and smiled. "Yes, especially your mother. Shan Chai, we really would want you to come along with us, but your mother and I have sacrificed so much so that you could study at Ying De and get the best education. We just don't want it to go to waste just like that. You do understand our intention right? And, you'd be staying here. I will bank-in the rent into the landlord's account. Don't worry about it, okay. I will also bank-in your college fees and allowance every month. You only have to think about your studies and.."  
  
Her mother but in, "Finding a rich boyfriend. Go and pursue that Hua Zhe Lei. Show off your charms and win his heart. Then, we all will be rich and live happily with money."  
  
She looked at her mother with wide-eyed. "Mother! Thinking again, I think it is best for you to leave me alone. I can't stand hearing your nag about rich boys. I'm your daughter, not your ticket to wealth."  
  
"Now, that's my Shan Chai. Take care of yourself here, okay. Now, help us pack. We have to leave tomorrow morning with the moving lorry," her mother told, holding Shan Chai's hands. ~~*~~*~~  
  
He drove his car straight into the garage and not to the main entrance as always. He was tired but at the same time, he has a lot of things going through his mind. Stepping in the house, he glanced to the antic 'Old Ben' at the corner of the hall. 'Emm... it's already 11. I have no idea I've been going around the city for that long. No wonder I'm pretty beat-up. Got to go to sleep.' He was just stepping up the stairs when his butler calls out his name.  
  
"Master Hua Zhe Lei, Madam called at 10 and she wants you to call her back right after you came home. She said it was urgent."  
  
"Very well. Thank you Boon Seng."  
  
'Mother called? They don't usually call me at night. Something important must had happened. Wonder what it could be?' he wonders. Picking up the phone, he called up his mother in Japan.  
  
"Hello, mother? I just came home. What's wrong?"  
  
"Hua Zhe Lei, you have to come to Japan. Your father had a stroke this afternoon and was admitted to the hospital by the doctor. His condition is not that good. I, I'm worried. Please come.," her mother cried out, panicked.  
  
He was shocked to hear the news. His father was a well-fit man and his mother always takes care of his diet. Even though he wasn't in a really good term with his father, since he was always away on business most of his childhood life, but he still respect and love him. Hearing her mother weeping on the phone added the hollow feeling he felt right then.  
  
"Mother, please don't cry. He'll be okay. He is a strong willed man.I'm sure he'll pull through. Don't worry, okay. I'll head to the airport now and take the earliest flight they have. Everything's going to be okay," he assured his mother.  
  
"Okay, son. Please hurry. I'll meet you at the Tokyo hospital. I'll send someone to pick you up at the airport. Bye."  
  
Hanging up the phone, he called out to his butler.  
  
"Boon Seng, my father had a stroke and was hospitalized. I'm going back to Japan now. Take care of the house."  
  
"Yes, Master Hua Zhe Lei. I hope Big Master Hua Zhe will recover soon. We will pray for his health here. Don't worry about the house, just go."  
  
"Thank you, Boon Seng."  
  
Giving orders to the driver, he sat at the back of the car and took his mobile phone out. He looked at the phone.  
  
'Shan Chai, if only you have a phone. I am so sorry. I can't get in touch with you for sometime now. I wish I could tell you about this. Right now, I just hope that you will be okay and not worry about me missing. Oh! Shan Chai.'  
  
Looking out of the window, he remembered back the little times he had spent with his father. He doesn't want to lose him not when they have lost so many of their time being apart. Picking up his phone, he dialed one of the three most familiar numbers in his mobile.  
  
"Hello, Xi Men. I'm flying back to Japan tonight. My father had a stroke. Bye." The short but direct message was saved in Xi Men's voicemail.  
  
'He must be with one of his mei mei,' he assumed. ~~*~~*~~  
  
The uploading task took them about 20-30 minutes time but it felt to her as if it was only 5-10 minutes. She hates having being left behind like this. If possible, she wished the time would stop at that instant. Her mother looked at her. She could see the tears that ran down her cheek.  
  
"Mother, please don't look at me like that and stop crying. You'll make me cry too."  
  
"As if you haven't cried yet.," her mother answered, gently wiping away Shan Chai's tears and hugged her tightly.  
  
While they were hugging each other, another person came and hugged the both of them.  
  
"We have to go now, dear. Shan Chai, can take care of herself. She would be really upset if she sees you off like this. It's not like we cannot be together again. When she's on semester break, she could come over to see us," comfort her father to her mother.  
  
Nodding her head, she let go of her mother and said, "Father's right. It would only be for another three months before my break. I can take care of myself. I'm weed Shan Chai, remember? I wouldn't be defeated that easy. Now go. I love you both and take care of each other, okay?"  
  
She kissed her parents on the cheek and put on a smile. She'll be brave for them. She doesn't want her parents to worry about her. Waving goodbye, she just looked at the lorry, driving out of sight. Closing the door behind her, she slumped to the floor and cried her heart out. She has never been left alone before. Looking around the half empty house, she felt really lonely.  
  
'I'm alone. Father, mother.I'm sorry. I am not that tough. I'm missing you already. I wished I didn't have to go to that stupid college. I don't belong there. I want to be with the two of you. Where ever I study is really not a factor for me. Father, mother..'  
  
She doesn't know how long she squatted on the floor, crying, letting go her sad feelings. She doesn't felt like going to the college today. Nothing seems to care to her at that moment. A knock on the door startled her.  
  
She glanced at the clock on the wall. It's 9.30 in the morning. 'I have been sitting here, crying for 45 minutes. This has to stop! I can't keep on being a cry baby for the whole 3 years I'm studying here. I'm Shan Chai! My parents believe in me, and now it's my turn to believe in myself. I can do this! Wait a minute. someone at the door. Who could that be?'  
  
Wiping her tears, she stood up and opened the door. To her shocked, it was Ah Si standing in front of her.  
  
"Why aren't you ready? I have been waiting for 10 minutes for you to open the door! Stupid woman!"  
  
She was not in the mood to argue with him. "Who asked you to come anyway? Go away! I'm not going to college today!"  
  
She closed the door but something blocked the door from closing. It was Ah Si's foot. She glared at Ah Si.  
  
"What do you think you are doing? I've told you I'm not going to college. Just go away!"  
  
"I'm not going until you tell me the reason. Something's wrong. I can tell. Why does your eyes and nose all red? As if you had been crying all morning. Where's your parent? Why are they okay with you not going to college? Are you sick?" asked Ah Si, concern sounded in his voice.  
  
Hearing the word parent made her broke down. She squatted on the floor again and cried. She doesn't care if Ah Si was looking or not. She thought she was strong about the whole thing but it looked like she was wrong. It would take some time before she could move on, but right now she just want to cry and let all the loneliness pass by her.  
  
Seeing Shan Chai's condition, Ah Si, squatted beside her and hold her in his arm. This would be the most appropriate time for him to shut up. He felt really sorry to see her like that and confused at the same time. 'What did he just said to make her like this?' 


	10. Being Accepted

Chapter 10: Being Accepted  
  
"I don't understand what is taking Ah Si this long? What is so hard about picking up a girl from her house to the college?" mumbled Mei Zhuo while eyeing the chocolate mousse cake Xi Men was eating.  
  
"They were supposed to be here an hour ago. His fail ness to be punctual has made my dear Jing had to go to that class empty handed."  
  
Xi Men nodded and continue taking another bite of the cake with his fork.  
  
"Will you stop eating for a while? Don't just fill your mouth with that cake. Talk to me, man."  
  
"This cake is delicious. I responded to your comment with that nod before. Stop bothering me. Anyway, there is your dear now," answered Xi Men.  
  
Mei Zhuo turned his head towards the direction Xi Men gestured and his face lit up. He kept on smiling until Jing sat right in front of him. Taking Jing's hand and kissed it, he said, "My darling Jing, I missed you. Without you by my side, I feel so empty and lonely. I can't bear to be without you even for one second. Jing dear."  
  
"Oh please! Stop it, man. You are making me lose my appetite! Sometimes, I wished the old Mei Zhuo would be back! He is much more fun than the lovey-dovey new Mei Zhuo. Jing, what have you done to my brother?" gusted Xi Men, putting down his fork.  
  
Seeing that Xi Men has put aside his fork, Mei Zhuo let go of Jing's hand and grabbed the cake, running away from him before Xi Men could realize what had happen. With only one bite, he finished the balance of the cake.  
  
"Hey, you're right! This cake really is delicious," teased Mei Zhuo while making his wacky dance just to annoy Xi Men.  
  
"Why you."  
  
Knowing he has been tricked, Xi Men chased Mei Zhuo but he bumped right into Ah Si, who had just made his way to the café's outdoor table where the others are waiting.  
  
"HEY! Watch where you're going!" exclaimed Ah Si.  
  
"Sorry, man. It was Mei Zhuo. He ate my cake! You are lucky Mei Zhuo that Ah Si's here. If not, you'll be sorry you tricked me like that. By the way Ah Si, why are you late? And where is Shan Chai?"  
  
"She's with me. Sorry Jing, for bringing her here this late. Something happened and she was crying when I reached her house. I let her calm down first before bringing her here. And I still have no idea why she cried."  
  
Looking behind, he spoke softly, "Shan Chai, come on. Jing's here. Talk to her, okay?"  
  
The others waited patiently for Shan Chai to emerge from behind Ah Si's back. Shan Chai was a mess. Her hair was not properly tied up, her eyes are red and puffy, and streaked of dried tears could be seen on her face. Jing stood up and headed towards Shan Chai. She hugged her and led her to the empty seat.  
  
"Now, now. what's wrong Shan Chai? Are you sick?" asked Jing, concerned.  
  
Shan Chai shook her head. She was more relaxed and calmed now. Looking at Jing's concerned face, she said, "I'm sorry Jing, for not being able to attend today's class. It's just that, my parents had to move away today because my father had been posted to a new store out of Taipei. I have never been left alone before. So, I got upset. I'm sorry if I made all of you worry. I know it's not a big deal and all."  
  
"That was it? That was the reason you cried your heart out? I have been living alone since my sister got married and Jing too had been living alone for the past 5 years at a different county. You never heard us heart broken," cried out Ah Si, insensitively.  
  
"Will you shut up, Ah Si! You do not live alone in that house. You have 20 servants to take care of you. And if I'm not mistaken, when Zhuang Jie got married, you locked yourself up in your room for a week!" told Xi Men.  
  
Jing gave Ah Si a stare before he could explode by the statement Xi Men made. That made him only able to glare at Xi Men and Mei Zhuo who are giggling at him, and conceived his anger. Even Shan Chai found it funny to see Ah Si being shut out by Jing.  
  
"Now, I will take Shan Chai to the washroom to clean her up and I want the three of you to behave. That means, Ah Si, I want Xi Men and Mei Zhuo to be in one piece. Not even a scratch! Do you understand?" warned Jing.  
  
Ah Si did not utter a word or a nod to the warning and kept on staring at the two.  
  
"Dear, may we follow along? I don't think we're safe here with him," asked Mei Zhuo. Xi Men nodded in agreement.  
  
"Where is Lei when I need him?" sighed Jing.  
  
"Ah ha! I knew I forgot something! Lei left a message at my voicemail yesterday. He's at Japan. His father had a stroke last night and he took a flight back straight away," explained Xi Men.  
  
The news shocked everyone. Even Ah Si was shocked out of his anger. "Is his father okay now?" asked Ah Si with a note of worry in his voice.  
  
"I don't know. I can't get through. He switched it off. Even his Japan number can't be reached. I've left a message to him so that he'll update us with the latest news," answered Xi Men.  
  
"He'll contact us. I know he will. Come on now Shan Chai, let's go."  
  
~~*~~~*~~~*~~  
  
'Lei are not here. At the time that I need him the most, he is not here. Come on Shan Chai. It's not like he knows my parents are moving. Anyway, he's going away because of his father's health. Would I feel happy if I knew he ignored about his father's illness? He'll be back when his father is okay. By the way, my problem is not that big. I can handle it. I am weed Shan Chai! I will never give up until I try my best!'  
  
"Shan Chai? Do you hear me? Well, what do you think?" asked Jing again when she didn't get a response from Shan Chai.  
  
"Huh? What is it again? I didn't catch the question."  
  
"I'm asking you to live with me if you feel uncomfortable or insecure of staying alone at your house. Well?"  
  
Combing her hair, she looked over to Jing who was still waiting for her answer. 'She has just known for two days, and yet she offered me to stay with her just because I was being depressed about my parents. As easy as that. I am so glad this beautiful angel wanted me to be her friend because I can never see myself this lucky of having a friend like her. I never taught rich people can be this kind.'  
  
"It's okay, Jing. The first day is always the toughest but I'll manage it. Don't worry about me. I'll work overtime, therefore I won't be alone at home that long. At least I will have other thing to think about and have more money to save," declined Shan Chai politely.  
  
"I won't force you, but the offer is still open. Whenever you feel down and lonely, you are always welcomed to my house. You looked great now. Let us go and find the boys, before they get themselves into trouble, especially with Ah Si."  
  
Shan Chai smiled at the statement Jing had made. She could imagined how Ah Si would yelled at the two. They went back to the others, unexpected to see that the three of them were chatting quite seriously.  
  
"I thought the two of you would've been pancakes by now. Emm. I am very pleased to see that you guys really behaved. So, what are you talking about behind our backs?" teased Jing.  
  
"We have just got a call from Lei and it seems that his father would have to go through a bypass operation. The doctor says that one of his veins was clogged and has to be cleansed. He has to stay at Japan and take care of the company, together with his parents until his father recovers fully from the operation," explained Mei Zhuo.  
  
"I hope his father would recover fast," uttered Shan Chai.  
  
"Why? So that he would come back to Taiwan faster? So that you could spend your time with him?" barked Ah Si.  
  
"What is wrong with you!? I have no other meaning than what I have said!! Stupid!" squalled Shan Chai.  
  
"Here we go again." whispered Xi Men to Mei Zhuo, smiling. "Stop arguing the two of you! Ah Si, apologized to Shan Chai. You have no right to snapped at her like that. Why must the two of you act like cats and dogs every time you're together?" sighed Jing, shaking her head.  
  
"She started it! Why must I." Ah Si stopped mid sentence when he saw Jing stared at him.  
  
"Okay, okay. Shan Chai, sorry."  
  
"That's better. Now, let's go over to my house to hang out," said Mei Zhuo.  
  
"Sorry, I can't. I have work at two. So, until we meet again. Bye!" excused Shan Chai.  
  
"Wait a minute. There are still hours before your shift. Come on, Shan Chai. Anyway, you don't have a ride, right?" stated Xi Men.  
  
"My scooter is still here. I don't want to interrupt your fun time together."  
  
"Shan Chai, we would love to have your company as well. Ah Si, you ride with Shan Chai and Mei Zhuo will take your car. I will drive his," instructed Jing.  
  
"But Jing, I don't know how to ride that scooter," protested Ah Si with a sour face.  
  
"Well, you can always be the passenger behind." suggested Jing teasingly.  
  
The others just giggled at Ah Si's reaction. They can't believe that Dao Ming Si was going to ride a scooter and furthermore, being the passenger.  
  
"In that case, Ah Si, let's go. You heard what the lady had said." teased Shan Chai.  
  
"Grr." growled Ah Si, not happy being teased by Shan Chai and ordered around by Jing.  
  
'This is going to be one fun ride.hehehehe.' 


	11. Kindness Within

Chapter 11: Kindness Within  
  
A butler opened the door and showed them to the recreational room.  
  
'I thought Lei's house is big and grand, but Mei Zhuo's were even more! Are they all live in such big house? Emm. Dao Ming Si was the richest among the four and his family was the richest in whole of Taiwan. No wonder his house was far more the biggest, impressive and magnificent of all. But I'm confused. why must they have a big house with lots of room and space if they aren't going to use them all? What a waste of money and wealth! Rich people..'  
  
Following Dao Ming Si's steps, she found herself in a big room that contains a large television with big stereos at all corners of the room, black leather sofas, two billiard tables, a bar, a whole rack full of CD's and DVD's, and four box of Daytona machine game. She can't help feeling awed of the room. She never imagined anyone could own a machine game like that before.  
  
Jing, Mei Zhuo and Xi Men were already waiting for them. Jing were watching a show on the big screen TV and the boys were playing billiard. Knowing that they were already there, Jing looked up from behind the sofa, waved at her and stopped mid-air.  
  
"It took Ah Si to drive an hour from Shan Chai's house to the college but, Shan Chai took an hour and a half to reach my house from college which is only about 25 kilometers away. She broke your record man!" teased Mei Zhuo without taking his eyes off from the billiard table.  
  
She tried to make a 'NO' signal from Ah Si's back but since he or Xi Men didn't even looked at the two of them, they didn't noticed it.  
  
'Oh boy. he is sooo. in trouble,' she said to herself.  
  
Finally, Xi Men looked up and his face was shocked! He tapped on Mei Zhuo's shoulder indicating that he should stop and looked too.  
  
"What the hell happened to you?!" exclaimed Mei Zhuo in shocked when he make a glanced towards Ah Si.  
  
What they saw was that, Ah Si was in sweat, tired, his hand had grease on them and he was not looking very happy about it.  
  
"You want to know what happened to ME? You want to know why the hell it took one and a half hour to be here?" he questioned back, anger in his tone.  
  
Grabbing Shan Chai's arm, he exploded, "SHE was the reason!! I have to sit at the back of a tiny scooter looking like an idiot, not wearing a helmet because there was only ONE, which was then caused me to be questioned by a police traffic who did not believe I was the heir of Dao Ming until I had to take out my ID and showed it to him, then, led him to make fun of the picture, oh. and that is not the end of it! At the entrance of your house, HER SCOOTER had a flat tire! I have to push the stupid bike all the way here! And guess what!! The scooter is not that tiny after all when you pushed it up a hill! So, now you know! Are you happy?!"  
  
"It was not my fault!! How'd I know that the tire was going to be flat? Furthermore, there are two helmets! Who asked you not wanting to wear it?" she defended herself, breaking free from Ah Si's grip.  
  
"THAT is not a helmet! That is a turtle shell!! I will not let it ruined my perfect hair!"  
  
"Well, that perfect HAIR of yours was the reason the policeman laughed at you! Why did none of you tell me that his hair was like a pineapple before? It was so funny!" she laughed followed by the others.  
  
That made Ah Si more furious and stormed out of the room. Mei Zhuo wanted to follow him but Jing told him not to. Let him cool down by himself, she said. Mei Zhuo then asked his butler to call someone to fix Shan Chai's flat tire. They had a few more laugh after that when they asked Shan Chai how it all really happened. Mei Zhuo even showed her all the pictures he had of Ah Si and the others when they were young, and talked about their memories together.  
  
'Wow, they are pretty close together ever since childhood. Emm. Lei were the quietest, mysterious and shy of all? He never looked shy in front of me before. Mysterious. that's him alright. I never could understand him. What ever he was thinking, I can never really tell.'  
  
~~~*~~~*~~~  
  
"Mrs. Lee, could I have the night shifts starting next month? I'm willing to do overtime too if you want me to," asked Shan Chai to her supervisor the first chance she have during work.  
  
"Why? Are you in need of money, Shan Chai? I could give you a month advance first."  
  
"No, it's not about the money. Well, I'm staying alone now, and I have more time to spare. It's okay if I can't get the night shift all day of the week but I'm hoping if you could set me up for more than my current night shift."  
  
"Okay, I'll see what I can do. But for now, I think you had better get back to work. You have a customer waiting."  
  
"Thank you Mrs. Lee."  
  
She quickly went back behind the cashier and entertained the customer. Xiao You gave her a curious look while cleaning up the tables and dishes.  
  
"So, is there anything you want to tell me? Why do you go to see Mrs. Lee?" asked Xiao You when the shop have no more customers and about to close.  
  
"I asked if she could give me more night shifts and to cast me more overtime."  
  
"And why is that? Do you have problems with your parents? Are you trying to avoid seeing them at home? I think, it is best if you talk to them about what is bothering you rather than running away from them," advised Xiao You, with a concerned look on her face.  
  
Shan Chai shook her head and smiled.  
  
"It has something to do with my parents, but not as what you're thinking. My parents had just move out from the house. My dad got a new post at a new store outside Taipei. I'm being left alone to stay here because of Ying De. I don't want to, but they insisted that I finished my degree first. So, that is why I'm asking for the night shift. I don't want to have loneliness night alone at home. After the night shift, all I have to do is just go straight home to bed. That way, I don't have to think about how I miss them," explicated Shan Chai, tears forming in her eyes.  
  
"I'm so sorry to hear that, Shan Chai. Don't worry, you can always come over to my place. I wished I could stay with you but I don't think my mom would approve. However, I think I can manage to have nights over at your house on weekends or holidays, now and then that is. And I'll keep you company when we have the shifts together. Is that okay?"  
  
Xiao You took a tissue and wiped her friend's tears. Smiling, she hugged her and comforted her.  
  
"Ehemm.."  
  
Hearing that, the both of them let go and turned their sight to where the sound came from. To Shan Chai's surprised, it came from two familiar person, Dao Ming Si and Xi Men.  
  
"What are you two doing here?" Shan Chai asked.  
  
"Well, you see, there is this guy I know that is worried about your safety and he dragged me along to accompany you back home. This guy, oww."  
  
Xi Men stopped and giggled while rubbing his side where Ah Si has given him quite a nudged with his elbow. Even Xiao You and she found it funny to see the redness of Ah Si's face with what Xi Men had said.  
  
"It's nothing like that! Who'd worry about you? Even the bad guys won't stand a chance to do anything to you with the fierceness and harshness you possessed."  
  
"What did you say? Do you want a piece of me?" snapped Shan Chai instantly, showing her fist at Ah Si's face.  
  
"I'm someone with si..sense. Never will I hit a woman, no matter how tempting it would be!" Ah Si yelled back.  
  
Xi Men and Xiao You ganged up to stop the quarrel that had started to trigger.  
  
"Cool down man," Xi Men said to Ah Si.  
  
"He doesn't mean what he said. Rilex, Shan Chai. We don't want Mrs. Lee to hit the sky knowing about this, do we?" calmed Xiao You.  
  
Seeing that the two has finally stopped their little conflict, Xi Men held out his hand towards Xiao You.  
  
"I don't believe we have been properly introduced. Hi, my name is Xi Men. This is my friend, Ah Si."  
  
"It's Dao Ming Si," cut in Ah Si, nodding at Xiao You.  
  
"We always call him Ah Si. And, what would be the name of this lovely, cute girl?"  
  
"I'm Xiao You. Shan Chai's ex-high school classmate. She's my best friend," answered Xiao You with a smile, taking Xi Men's held up hand.  
  
To her surprise and Shan Chai's as well, Xi Men took it and kissed the back of her hand.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Miss Xiao You," Xi Men said, giving Xiao You an intense look and his sweetest smile.  
  
"Okay now, let go of her hand, Xi Men. That is enough." exclaimed Shan Chai, trying to break free the handshake between Xi Men and Xiao You.  
  
"Ohh.. Shan Chai. You are such a spoiler," mumbled Xi Men, letting go of Xiao You's hand.  
  
"I don't care! What is it that you are here for? Now, if you are not going to buy anything, you can as well stay outside," asked Shan Chai sternly.  
  
"I've told you. Someone is worried."  
  
"I'm worried about your safety and I am here to escort you back home. Xi Men is here by himself," Ah Si butted in Xi Men's answer.  
  
"I'm what?" asked Xi Men with a surprised look on his face but sighed after that. "Xiao You, do you mind giving me a lift? Someone has just kicked me out of my ride home."  
  
Giggling, Xiao You agreed, "Let's go. We're closing anyway. Bye, Shan Chai. See you tomorrow."  
  
"Xiao You! You can't leave me. Who'll help me close up?" asked Shan Chai frantically.  
  
Taking off her uniform and grabbed her things, Xiao You just pointed her finger at Ah Si and went out the door with Xi Men following behind her, smiling teasingly. There were silence for a while before Shan Chai uttered out, "Ah Si, could you help me put up the chairs on the tables while I close up the cashier?"  
  
Without any resistance, Ah Si nodded his head and immediately, he did what Shan Chai asked him to.  
  
'That was a shocked! Never thought he would do it without any protest coming out from him. Well, he sure can be kind and charming when he wanted to. As for you, Xiao You. you and Xi Men are going to be really sorry to pull that stunt on me.'  
  
10 minutes later, Shan Chai left the shop with her scooter followed closely behind by her escort in a black BMW, Ah Si. Reaching home, Shan Chai opened the gate and parked her scooter inside before going back outside to thank Ah Si.  
  
Seeing Ah Si leaning at the passenger's door, Shan Chai went over and stood in front of him.  
  
"Ah Si, thank you. You really don't have to do this, but thank you anyway."  
  
"It's okay. You are my friend. It's my responsibility to make sure you're safe especially in the condition that you're alone at Taipei. If it were Jing, I'd still do the same. Go in. I'm not leaving until I am sure you're safe inside your house. Good night, Shan Chai. Sweet dreams," said Ah Si caringly.  
  
'Who knew Dao Ming Si was actually caring beneath all those arrogant and abrasiveness. Like they say, never judge a book by its cover. I'm sorry for judging you first without giving you and me the chance to get to know you,' apologized her secretly to Ah Si in her heart.  
  
Smiling, Shan Chai went back inside and gave a wave to Ah Si before entering her house. Upon the light in the house had been switched on, thus Ah Si went back in his car and drove off. 


	12. The Approach

Chapter 12: The Approach  
  
She glanced at her watch. It was already 9.45 pm.  
  
'It's still early. I was afraid that I was going to be late. Ah Si would be angry if I was late. He is such an old lady sometimes. Nag, nag, nag. urghhh. Luckily I managed to close up the store pretty fast even though I had to work alone tonight. Oh well. I'll just have to wait for him then, but it's okay. Ah Si is very particular about being on time. Wonder why he's not when it comes to his classes. He seldom went to his classes and even if he does, he'll be late more than half an hour. Speak of the devil. there he is now.'  
  
The ride she was waiting for stopped right beside her. She smiled towards the driver of the Porsche when she slides in the passengers sit.  
  
"You're early. Usually I have to go in the shop to help you out," said Ah Si.  
  
"Help out and complaint at the same time! I've told you so many times that I don't need you to come and fetch me. From college, from work, from my house. but, no. everything should be your way! Now, you're complaining about having to wait me all the time. I don't really need you to do all this you know. I already have my scooter. I can go by myself," grumbled Shan Chai, looking straight at Ah Si.  
  
"Okay. Let's make a new deal. Whenever it was day light and the weather's fine, you can go to the college and work by yourself. However, when you have night shifts or overtime, I'm going to pick you up to and from work, without any complaints. You'll be happier and I won't be stressed out because of you! How's that?" asked Ah Si bluntly while driving the car.  
  
"I stressed you out? You.. Fine! I agree, Mister-Blaming-On-Me," agreed Shan Chai, at the same time getting back on Ah Si. 'He had changed so much. He is gentler now. We seldom quarreled with each other anymore. He really is such a good friend though sometimes he is such a controller. Everything must be done by his way. Nevertheless, he is so easy to understand and if you are good, you could ask him to do anything for you, providing that you make he thinks that it was his desire. I remembered when he thought it was his idea to have the camping trip last weekend. The whole time he wanted to complain but the rest of us shut him off by saying it was his idea at the first place. Jing, Mei Zhuo and Xi Men can't believe that I managed to tricked him like that. It was really funny.'  
  
"So, tomorrow, I'll pick you up at 8 okay? Xi Men is riding with us,' reminded Ah Si, bringing her out from her thoughts.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"We are going to the beach house tomorrow, remember? Since there is only the five of us and since Mei Zhuo wanted to be alone with Jing, Xi Men have to ride with us. Hey, why don't you asked Xiao You to come along?"  
  
"She's at her grandmother's place together with her family. That is why I have tonight's shift by myself. Ah Si, do I really have to go? I haven't had the chance to spent time by myself since the day my parents moved out. I'm thinking of cleaning my house," begged Shan Chai to bail out from the trip.  
  
"No. I am not going to leave you here alone without any of us to be there for you if anything happens. Tell you what, I'll send some of my maids to clean the house for you."  
  
"My house is my responsibility, Ah Si. Never mind. I'll follow along for this trip but next week, I'm having the weekend to myself. Promise? You can't turn your back from this, okay?"  
  
Ah Si nodded but his face was opposing the idea. Shan Chai smiled. She knew she could count on Ah Si to keep his end of the promise. It has been two weeks now, and every day she was with F3 and Jing, especially Ah Si. She had spent most of her time with Ah Si because he'll pick her up from her house to the college, from the college to work and then back to her home again. She love hanging around with them, and they let her keep her mind from thinking too much about her parents, but she still needs her time alone to do her own things.  
  
They reached her house about five minutes after ten and as usual, Ah Si would only leave after she had entered the house. She put her bag aside and head straight to the bathroom. That was when she took a brief look at the calendar and realized today was the night of the full moon. Dashing to the bathroom and had the fastest shower in her life, she took off wearing a grey sweater and the previous jeans.  
  
'How can I forget about tonight? I hope I can find a way to get in Ying De.'  
  
She parked her scooter at the roadside behind the big tree at the east wall of Ying De. Walking slowly until the end of the wall, she took a peek to see whether the guard was at the post or not. If he wasn't she was thinking of sneaking through the big gate because it was big enough for her to squeeze in. To her disappointment, the guard was there.  
  
'How am I suppose to get in? Ehmm. if I stand up on my scooter, I think I might be able to climb over the wall and climbed down by the tree at the other side. If only I could find the right tree that was closed enough to the wall,' she thought.  
  
Pushing her scooter and at the same time scouted for the right spot, she found the spot about five minutes later. Double-stand her scooter exactly near to the wall, she began to climb up.  
  
"You might fall, you know."  
  
"What the." she jumped at the sudden voice.  
  
Turning around, she scanned the perimeters before she saw someone in the shadow leaning at the tree on her left. Climbing down from her scooter, she walked towards the figure.  
  
Stopping about a meter from it, she asked, "Who are you? Show yourself slowly. I know you're not the guard. Don't make any sudden moves. I know tae kwan do."  
  
"The moon is full tonight, right? Aren't you a bit late for moongazing?"  
  
'That voice.Lei?'  
  
"Lei, is that you?" she asked, curious but anxious. Slowly, the figure stood up and walked towards her.  
  
"LEI! It's you!!" exclaimed her, happy to see the face that was now clear enough for her to recognize. A small smile formed on his lips.  
  
"Shan Chai, it was nice to see you again."  
  
Feeling very happy to meet Lei again after so long, she ran forward and gave him a hug.  
  
"You're back! It's been so long, Lei. How was your father? Is he okay now? Is that why you came back? And why are you here?" she questioned him one after another, after letting go off Lei.  
  
"My father is okay now. He's been discharged from the hospital last Wednesday. Knowing that he is stable now, he asked me to go back to Taiwan. He said I had missed my classes for far too long."  
  
Catching his breath, he continued, "You're asking me why am I here? Do you think I would forget about our event every month? I came here straight from the airport to meet you. I knew you'd be here because of the full moon. I waited since eight. I was beginning to think that you wouldn't show up. Luckily I saw your scooter's light. So, I came out here and here I am, finding you pulling out this stunt. It's not nice for a girl to climb walls," said Lei, shaking his head.  
  
Laughing at his comment, Shan Chai made a come back. "It's not nice for a gentleman to be sneaking around, either."  
  
Smiling, Lei took Shan Chai's hand and led her to the main gate. Going straight to the guard, Lei said, "Hello. My name is Hua Zhe Lei. Please open the gate."  
  
Hearing his name, the guard quickly unlocked the gate and pushed it open for them to get through.  
  
"Just call me when it was time you wanted to come out, Mister Hua Zhe Lei," said the guard, giving Lei a little nod.  
  
'Wow! That was easy. I guess owning one fourth of the college has it's advantages after all.'  
  
They went up the roof, their usual place and sat at the railing like always. All this time, they were holding hands without any sign either of them would let go. In silent, the two of them looked up to gaze at the moon.  
  
Shan Chai don't know how long exactly they were there, but, she was shocked to find that the sun was up the minute she opened her eyes. She then got her second shock when she realize that she was already at the floor and slept the whole night with her head on Lei's lap. Getting up, she got her third shocked. Lei was already awake and was looking at her. Feeling that her blood had rushed to her face, she quickly stood up.  
  
Looking at her watch, she screamed, "It's five minutes to eight! Ah Si, is going to kill me!!"  
  
Glancing at Lei, who are now standing up as well, she asked, "Did the others know you're back? We're are going to the beach house this morning and Ah Si is suppose to pick me up at eight."  
  
Shaking his head, he held out his hand at Shan Chai and said, "Then, we better get moving."  
  
Taking Lei's hand in hers, she nodded and smiled. Together, they went out of Ying De. Stopping in front of Shan Chai's scooter, Lei said, "Have another helmet? I'll drive, or was it ride?"  
  
"You know how to ride the bike? How come Ah Si didn't? He rode my scooter once, as the passenger that is. It was so funny. hehehehe. I was practically invincible if you look from the back. The scooter even had a flat tire... hehehe.when we got to Mei Zhuo's house. hehehe. He grumbled all the way too," told Shan Chai about her experience having Ah Si as her passenger, laughing within sentence.  
  
Lei smiled but, without Shan Chai noticing it, Lei's eyes were giving out signals that he was jealous. 


	13. Beach Fight

Chapter 13: Beach Fight  
  
The ride to the beach house was in utterly silence with Ah Si driving the Kia Sephia, Shan Chai sitting at the front passenger sit beside Ah Si and the other two, Lei and Xi Men, at each side of the back seat. The silent environment was merely because of the little quarrel at the beginning of the journey.  
  
~~~Flashback~~~  
  
The minute Lei and Shan Chai reached her house, Ah Si was already going berserk! Kicking the tire and screaming on the phone, screaming, giving orders to search for her was an awful and terrifying sight for her. Even Xi Men was looking frantic on the phone. Upon hearing the sound of the scooter, the two of them looked directly towards them and hanged up their calls. Shan Chai tried her very best to hide herself behind Lei.  
  
"LEI? What are you doing riding Shan Chai's bike? Where is she? Did something happen?" asked Xi Men, walking towards Lei.  
  
Ah Si glared straight at Lei. He was furious and raging with anger. His face says it all. Looking away from Ah Si's glare, Lei made a gesture that Shan Chai was behind him with his head to Xi Men. Xi Men walked past Lei and stood beside Shan Chai. She didn't seem to noticed him because her head was rested at Lei's back and she had her eyes closed.  
  
"Shan Chai. thank god you're okay. We were so worried about you, especially Ah Si. When you didn't come out at eight, Ah Si climbed over the gate and knocked on the door. He thought you overslept, but when there aren't any response, he went out behind. Your scooter wasn't there. That was when he thought something might have happened to you and called up for a search team for you. Where did you go, anyway? How did you end up together with Lei?" told Xi Men, glad that Shan Chai was okay and curious at the same time.  
  
Slowly, Shan Chai turned her head towards Xi Men, still holding down her head low from Ah Si's sight.  
  
"I am soo. sorry. I didn't mean to make the two of you worried. I was with Lei the whole night moon gazing. We fell asleep while doing so. that is why we're late. Is 'he' still mad?" enquire Shan Chai slowly.  
  
Looking back at Ah Si, Xi Men nodded. Seeing that, Shan Chai sighed.  
  
"I'm in big trouble, aren't I?" she asked even though she knew the answer. Taking her time, she got down from the scooter.  
  
"I'm here when you need me. Don't worry. I don't think he'll do anything to you," consoled Lei, giving her the support Shan Chai needed to confront Ah Si.  
  
Nodding, Shan Chai walked slowly towards Ah Si, still with her head looking down at her shoe. She was feeling very sorry and a little bit scared towards Ah Si. Never has she seen his behavior that tempestuous before.  
  
Standing right in front of him, while closing her eyes, readying herself for the outburst from Ah Si, she apologized, "Dao Ming Si. I.I am very, very sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. Sor...sorry."  
  
But, to all of their surprise, instead of giving out a scream at Shan Chai, Ah Si hugged her.  
  
"Thank god you're okay. Never, never do this again. I'm getting a mobile phone for you after this. So, next time, when you're out or going to be late, you could just call the others or me and inform us about it. Promise me you're not going to scare me like this again, okay?" said Ah Si softly to Shan Chai's ear.  
  
Bewildered by the sudden, unexpected reaction from Ah Si, Shan Chai just nodded her head. Then, Ah Si let her go, and went straight to Lei who had got off the scooter, looking at them.  
  
"And as for YOU! What is the meaning of taking Shan Chai out in the middle of the night? And most importantly, why didn't you tell any of us that you are back?" cried out Ah Si, pushing Lei with his index finger.  
  
"Ah Si, it's not his fault! I ." Shan Chai tried to explained but stopped when Lei shot a look at her and shook his head indicating he doesn't want her back up. Lei looked at the spot Ah Si pushed him and faced back Ah Si with an expressionless face. Walked past him, he went to the car and sat at the back.  
  
Being ignored, Ah Si huffed and said intensely, "Xi Men, parked Shan Chai's scooter inside and Shan Chai, get in the car."  
  
~~~End Flashback~~~  
  
~~~*~~~*~~~  
  
'I am not in the mood of explaining anything to him. He can presume anything he wants. What made me shocked was that the relationship between Ah Si and Shan Chai had gotten closer. She knew Ah Si was punctual and Ah Si hugged her instead of screaming out like a mad man. In just two weeks, they have gone that far? Do I still have a chance?' asked Lei to himself.  
  
Looking at Ah Si, he thought, 'His concern seemed genuine. Has he really fallen for her and not just because of the bet? If he really do like her and vice versa, would I let go? Would I be able to? He is my friend, my brother. and she is my love. I know Shan Chai still like me, but she had gotten confidant with him. Can I manage to win her back before they get too serious?'  
  
~~~*~~~*~~~  
  
'I don't like this graveyard silence. We have been driving for an hour with this condition, now. Ah Si's anger might have subsided by now.'  
  
"Xi Men, did you bring your guitar along? I want you to play it at the beach house, maybe we can build campfire and sit around it again like last week only this time by the sea. Have roast marshmallow, singing together, tell ghost stories." chatted Shan Chai cheerfully as if nothing had happen. She was trying to break the ice.  
  
"Sure we can Shan Chai. You know I always bring my guitar whenever we have a F4 outing. Wish I could bring one of my Mei Mei along than it would be more interesting," sighed Xi Men.  
  
"We had a deal Xi Men. no outsider when it comes to F4 gathering unless it's a 'date' get together," reminded Ah Si, looking at Xi Men through the rearview mirror.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm just joking."  
  
"Xi Men, I've been meaning to ask you about something," asked Shan Chai, turning around to look at Xi Men. Xi Men looked at her, waiting for the rest of her question.  
  
"Why do you make the one-week-girl policy? Do you have anything to hide? Afraid they will know about it and leave you? Aren't you afraid of AIDS? Don't you want to feel falling in love and spend the rest of your time with the only one suited for you? I know I will. If I love someone, I want him to be by my side, through all the good and bad situation, except me as I am and don't try to change me."  
  
"Hear that Ah Si?" teased Xi Men. Shan Chai shot Xi Men an annoying look.  
  
"Okay, I'll answer. stop looking at me like that. So many question at one time. How am I going to answer all? Let me try to sum it all. Emm. I am afraid of AIDS, who wouldn't but I choose my Mei Mei carefully and use the appropriate protection. It's not that I don't want to fall in love but I haven't found the one for me yet. I'll stop the so-called policy when I do, I promise. Emmm.. Shan Chai.. Xiao You is single right?"  
  
"Oh no you don't! Don't you DARE hit on my friend! I won't permit it!!" shout out Shan Chai, panicked.  
  
The other three laughed at her sudden panic attacked. Shan Chai was baffled, not knowing what was so funny.  
  
"Don't worry Shan Chai. He won't play Xiao You like that. Xi Men knows not to mix pleasure with friendship," explained Lei, joining in the conversation.  
  
Shan Chai smiled at him before fixing his eyes back to Xi Men. "He'd better!"  
  
The rest of the trip was livelier then. Conversation after conversation was brought up after that and the radio filled the car with music. They even sing along with the songs aired.  
  
'I had no idea they have such nice voices. They could form a group of their own. With the wealth, looks and voice, I'm pretty sure they'll be able to be on top. I think Lei have the most gentle and beautiful voice. When he sings, he shared his emotion together with it. I have to praise him later. Maybe he could even sing for me at the beach, alone, romantically under the stars. What am I thinking? He probably wouldn't. I'm not his girlfriend.'  
  
~~~*~~~*~~~  
  
"You're finally here. Are you okay? Don't go wandering away without telling us first. Did Ah Si give you any trouble? No? That's good. Shan Chai let me show you around," invited Jing.  
  
Mei Zhuo sat beside Xi Men at the beach. They watched the girls walked away before Mei Zhuo started the conversation.  
  
"Where did she go?" asked Mei Zhuo.  
  
"She said she went moon gazing with Lei last night, fell asleep and came back this morning at 8.30, with Lei."  
  
"Man. No wonder they are keeping their distance. Lei, sleeping in his room and Ah Si, at the Jacuzzi. Did Ah Si have a fit back then?"  
  
"He had a fit alright, with Lei! I think Ah Si really cares for Shan Chai. She was late and was out with Lei, instead of shouting at her, he hugged her. He was really glad Shan Chai was safe. He's different now," commented Xi Men.  
  
"I suspected the same too. He became her driver ever since the day her parents left. We'll ask him later about it. If he really likes her, I think we should cancel the bet."  
  
"How about Lei? He's acting really weird since the day Jing played out her plan for Shan Chai to accept us. Do you think he likes her as well? If he does, there'll sure be trouble. I don't want F4 to break up because of a girl and the stupid bet WE started," uttered Xi Men, worried.  
  
"Maybe we could play a game to get them back together. I hate to choose sides. Lei and Ah Si are both our brothers. This is what we should do."  
  
The both of them discussed the game plan to make amends between Ah Si and Lei. After they had an agreement, they gathered everyone including Lei and Ah Si at the beach.  
  
"We are going to have a game. It is called 'The Dog Bone'. There will be two teams. Each member of the team will be given a number, 1, 2 and 3 by the leader. The leader will take turns to call out a number. When your number is up, you will try to get this branch in the middle of the circle," said Mei Zhuo, drawing the circle and place the branch at the middle.  
  
"You can't touch one another while going around the circle trying to get the branch. When one of you managed to take it, he or she will run back to their team while the other team member will try to touch them. If the opponent managed to touch you before you manage to high-five your team member, you lose. If not, you'll get a point. Whichever team that managed to get 5 points first is the winner. The winner will then get to punish their opponent with anything they wish for. Got it? Okay, Xi Men and I will be the leader. We will choose our team members one at a time," explained Mei Zhuo more about how the game will be played.  
  
"That is not fair. Let's pick straws to determine the leaders. Whoever gets the longest, will be leader," suggested Shan Chai, agreed by Jing and Ah Si.  
  
Mei Zhuo and Xi Men looked at one another. Their plans are going to be ruined. They wanted Lei and Ah Si to be in the same team. And, they are right. After the straw picking, it turns out that Lei and Ah Si were going to be leaders for each team. At the end, the teams were divided into; Lei, Mei Zhuo and Shan Chai, while the others are in Ah Si's team.  
  
The first round was between Xi Men and Shan Chai. Because of her small figure, she managed to grab the branch first and runaway with it untouched, getting a point for Lei's team. The second round was unfortunately between Lei and Ah Si. At first, everything went out fine until, suddenly Ah Si hit Lei in the face with his fist. Falling down onto the sand, Lei stood up and hit Ah Si back.  
  
"Stop! Stop it you two!" yelled Jing.  
  
Xi Men and Mei Zhuo tried to pull them apart. Lei seemed to be more at ease than Ah Si.  
  
"What is wrong with you Ah Si?" asked Mei Zhuo.  
  
"He touched me!"  
  
Shan Chai went over to Ah Si. Looking straight at him, she said, "It's only a game! Don't be such a sour player. Grow up, Ah Si!"  
  
She then, walked to Lei and led him back to the beach house to clean up the cut on his lips. Watching this, Ah Si pushed Mei Zhuo aside and walked away.  
  
"This is getting worst.," told Xi Men towards Mei Zhuo and Jing. 


	14. A Part of The Truth Revealed

Chapter 14: A Part of The Truth Revealed  
  
Taking the first-aid kit from the lower cabinet in the kitchen, as indicated by Jing, Shan Chai looked carefully at the face she admired and liked. She was curious.  
  
'Why is he being grumpy and harsh towards Ah Si from morning? Even that incident at the beach was excessively childish. He never occurs as the violence type to me. Hitting Ah Si back was too much. He should've known better. What happen to the caring Lei I know?' she thought deeply while wiping the blood from Lei's cut at the side of his mouth with a cotton bud. He cringed a bit.  
  
"Lei. Ah Si wa doushite naguru o shimashitaka?"  
  
Lei looked at her, shocked. Smiling softly, he answered, "Ima anata no nihon go wa ii desu. Ganbarimasu ne. Omedeto."  
  
She grinned, showing off her straight white teeth. "I'm not that good. I looked through the dictionary first while finding the first-aid kit. That was why I took a long time to be back with it," she said, showing the small, handheld dictionary.  
  
Lei took the dictionary and flipped it through. "I was wondering why you took such a long time to find it. This dictionary has very few words in them. I'll buy you a good one later. Oww. careful. That hurts."  
  
"Sorry. There, it's all done. Such a baby. Lei, you still didn't answer my question," she asked again.  
  
Looking away, rubbing the hand that hit Ah Si, he reluctantly answered, "This is the first time I ever hit anyone. I still can't believe I hit him. He is my friend and my brother. It happened too fast. It surprised me too to have reacted that way. When we were kids, he sometimes bullied me but I never get back at him. I knew it was his nature. I don't know what came over me."  
  
"It's okay. I know Ah Si wouldn't keep it in his heart. Apologized to him tonight."  
  
Lei just stared at her. He lingered there for quite some time before nodding.  
  
~~~*~~~*~~~  
  
'You have no idea it was all about you Shan Chai. He hit me because you were with me last night and in my team during the game. He never loses, Shan Chai. He always gets what he wants. The fact that I hit him, it's true I didn't mean to. But I'm not really sorry either. At least by now, he'll know that this Hua Zhe Lei is no longer the Hua Zhe Lei he could push around. You're my interest and I don't intend to give you up without a fight. I don't want to feel sorry for myself later. I don't want to regret. not anymore,' he said to himself, staring into Shan Chai's questioning eyes.  
  
After some time, he finally nodded. Faking out a smile, he said, "I'll apologize to him privately tonight. Don't you worry."  
  
"Good! I'm going back to the beach. You want to come along?"  
  
"Wait for awhile Shan Chai. I have something for you."  
  
Lei stood up from the couch and head towards his room. A minute later, he came back holding something small and box-like shape. Sitting back at the couch, he handed the box to her. It was gift wrapped in white and light pink ribbons. She looked at him dumbfounded.  
  
"What's this for?" she asked, still not taking the box from Lei.  
  
"It's for you. Yesterday was the second month we've known each other. I wanted to give it to you yesterday but you fell asleep after a short while we were up there. You looked so cute, sleeping with your head rested on my shoulder," he said, smiling.  
  
Taking out her hand, he put the box in them.  
  
"It's not safe to fall asleep while sitting on a railing, you know. So, I carried you down and laid you on the floor, giving your head the comfort of my lap. I hope you're not offended. I'm sorry if it does," apologized Lei to Shan Chai.  
  
"The gift is really nothing expensive or special. I bought it at Japan. It's quite popular there," continued Lei.  
  
"But Lei, I have nothing for you."  
  
"Never mind. We didn't make a promise to give each other gifts anyway. Even if it weren't for it, I would still give it to you. Go on, open it."  
  
Carefully unbind the ribbons, she opened the lid of the small box. Taking a glimpse of what inside, she exclaimed excitedly, forgetting about the disconcertment she felt when Lei explained about the previous night.  
  
"Kawaii! Honto ni kawaii! Domo arigato gozaimasu, Lei."  
  
Shan Chai grimaced, facing Lei, looking at him gratefully. She took out the hairclips from the box and placed them on her hands.  
  
"This is so cute! I love all three. This blue one, the purple one, the pink one. they're all so beautiful. The rabbit figure on them is cute too. thank you Lei. Thank you so much!" proclaimed Shan Chai while checking out the clips.  
  
Feeling very pleased with Shan Chai's reaction, he took the purple pair of hairclip from Shan Chai's palm.  
  
"Don't just hover over them. Here, let me put it on for you."  
  
Lei gently slide the hairclip onto Shan Chai's hair, one on each side. Shan Chai just sheepishly smiled at him. He could see the red blush on her cheeks.  
  
'She is so cute. Especially when blushing. Seeing her like this, I hope the time would freeze and I could savor this moment for eternity. This is all that matters to me. Your smile and appreciation is the best present you have given me, Shan Chai.'  
  
"Thank you Lei. I. I. I think we had better get back to the others. They might be wondering why we took so long," Shan Chai said, trying to hide her embarrassment.  
  
"You go ahead. I think, I better lay down first."  
  
He watched Shan Chai walked back towards the beach. When she was no longer visible, he lies back at the couch and put his left arm over his eyes. He didn't stay that way long when he noticed something different.  
  
"Hello Jing. How long have you been here?" he queried, sitting back up.  
  
"You always amaze me with that, Lei. So, how did you know it was me this time?" enquired Jing, taking a seat beside Lei.  
  
"Perfume. still the same," he answered, glancing at Jing.  
  
"That nose of yours is very sensitive. I have to try to remember changing my perfume when I want to approach you unidentified next time," smiled Jing.  
  
Keeping his silence, he kept his eyes fix on Jing. He's not going to utter anything until she said it out loud first. He knows Jing. He doesn't want to spill the beans out unintentionally.  
  
"I have never seen you talk that much with anybody else before, other than me that is. Is it true that you've known her for two months now? The surprised look, the introduction and the denial was all a lie? An act? You don't even trust me, Lei? Of all of F4, I never expected 'you' to deceive me."  
  
Jing stared him in the eyes, trying to find answers after he didn't answer back. Finally, she gave up and stood up. Lei quickly took a hold of her hand and pulled her back to her seat.  
  
"I didn't intend it to get this far," he said, looking away from Jing.  
  
"She was there for me when I was feeling down. Because of you. That was how I got to know her. She was different. I feel at ease whenever I'm around her. Ah Si was pretty mad when the first time he saw her. I denied knowing her at first because of him," he said, staring at the first-aid kit Shan Chai left behind.  
  
"After the bet was made, I thought, she would discard the others, especially after the warning she gave to F4 before. Never thought they would ask you to bring her in the group. Then, the past two weeks kind of changed the whole perception. Time had seemed to make Ah Si and her get acquainted well with one another. I can't just tell them that I have known her before all this. You know how Ah Si would react."  
  
"Lei, tell me the truth. Do you like her?"  
  
He looked at his hands. He didn't know how to answer the question. He knew Jing will bring up the question, sooner or later. but he still can't find the best way to answer it.  
  
"Your silence gave away the answer. Is that the reason for the change of attitude?"  
  
Staring back at Jing, he answered firmly, "I'm not going to lose her like I lost you."  
  
Caressing Lei's cheek, Jing muttered, "Oh my dear Lei."  
  
"Jing, please don't let the others know about this. I want her to be mine by myself. Not by sympathy or empathy. If she can accept me, love me. no matter how Ah Si tried to win her heart, she will still belongs to me. Don't try to help me either. I want to do this on my own. Pretend that you never know anything about this. Promise me, Jing."  
  
Giving out a slight smile, Jing promised, "You have my word. My Lei has grown up." 


	15. Friends Again

Chapter 15: Friends Again  
  
They gathered around the campfire and had their dinner, roast frankfurters, marshmallow and pizza.  
  
"I can't believe you two would buy pizzas for tonight. I thought we had an agreement we would have dinner campfire style?" complained Shan Chai, looking intensively at Xi Men and Mei Zhuo.  
  
"Hey. we are having that now! This is only for the side dish. We learned from our mistake. Last weekend we were starving ourselves to sleep eating only this two," defended Xi Men, pointing at the marshmallow and frankfurters.  
  
"We may look thin but we're hearty eaters. We need more to keep on growing.," added Mei Zhuo, making gestures of getting taller.  
  
"I don't think you are going to grow more vertically but it would positively be horizontally like this," teased Shan Chai, mocking a 'fat' Mei Zhuo.  
  
They laughed at Shan Chai's act. They are really having a good time together, talking, eating and laughing.  
  
"I hope not! If he's going to be that big, I have to sign him into a dieting program or follow his footsteps. If you can't fight them, join them. We would be an awkward couple if we were the opposite of one another, thin and fat," joined Jing with the joke.  
  
"Oh, no you don't! I can't imagine you being that 'big'."  
  
"And why not? Are you telling me that if I were fat, you wouldn't have liked me? You're really that shallow?" accused Jing, looking upset.  
  
Xi Men poked Mei Zhuo's side from behind Lei's back. Mei Zhuo jumped a bit and glanced over at Xi Men. Xi Men grinned teasingly.  
  
"It's nothing like that, dear. I love you no matter what size you are. The inner side of you is more important than the outer appearance. But, if you stayed like this, it would be a plus for me and for you too," wheedled Mei Zhuo, holding unto Jing's hand and giving her his puppy-eyed look.  
  
The other's just smiled at the drama in front of them.  
  
"Don't give me that look. You know I can't resist that look. Okay, okay. I'm not mad at you anymore," surrendered Jing, blocking Mei Zhuo's eyes with her free hand, smiling.  
  
Mei Zhuo looked over at Xi Men with a big grin on his face.  
  
"Smooth man, real smooth.," Xi Men praised, holding his thumb up.  
  
"Hey, Ah Si, you really have to learn this from him," Xi Men continued, looking to his side at Ah Si and swayed his look at Shan Chai, who was sitting beside Ah Si.  
  
Ah Si glared at Xi Men, "You think I don't know how to be smooth?"  
  
Xi Men shook his head and put up his hand in surrender, smiling. Ah Si took a handful of marshmallow from the marshmallow plastic container and shoved it into Xi Men's mouth. Xi Men struggled to free himself from the sudden attack but to no avail, he had to swallow the marshmallows. All of them laughed at the childish brawl.  
  
~~~*~~~*~~~  
  
After the dinner and story telling segments, they scattered around to do their own activity. Mei Zhuo had a walk along the beach with Jing, Xi Men helped Shan Chai with the dishes, Lei and Ah Si sat at the beach, keeping their distance from one another.  
  
'They are leaving us alone on purpose. Shan Chai must've told them that I'll apologize to Ah Si tonight. Maybe I should. I did promise to Shan Chai I would. Whether he forgives me or not, that is his problem.'  
  
Taking two cans of beer, Lei walked towards Ah Si who was staring at the sky. He handed one to Ah Si. Ah Si looked at him and at the beer. Lei motioned for him to take the can. Accepting the beer, Ah Si changed his sight to the sea in front of him. Lei sat beside Ah Si, opening the can in his hand and took a sip. Ah Si also did the same. They sat at the sandy beach for quite some time not talking to one another.  
  
"How's your dad?" asked Ah Si, breaking the silence.  
  
"Better."  
  
"Sorry about the hit."  
  
Lei were shocked. He looked at Ah Si who was still staring at the ocean as if there was nothing had happened.  
  
'Did I hear right? Ah Si said sorry? A real sorry? Not the phrase he always used? Has he really changed that much this past two weeks,' he asked himself, still looking at Ah Si in astonishment.  
  
Ah Si turned his head to face Lei. He was stunned to see that Lei was looking at him.  
  
"WHAT?" he demanded.  
  
"Nothing. Just curious."  
  
"Curious about what? What's with you?" Ah Si asked uncomfortably.  
  
"You just said sorry," he answered briefly, straight to the point.  
  
"Just keep to yourself," Ah Si said nonchalantly.  
  
Lei smiled slightly, "Me too."  
  
Ah Si gave a small nod, understood by what he had meant and smiled. Lei took his can of beer and knocked it with Ah Si's before he took another gulp.  
  
"Great! No more fighting. I don't like to choose sides," enounced Xi Men from their backs.  
  
Ah Si and Lei looked behind them and stare at him when they heard his voice. Grinning, he then forced himself through between Lei and Ah Si. Sitting in between, Xi Men put both his hands on Lei and Ah Si's shoulder. Ah Si took a sip from his can and smiled.  
  
"Ah Si, I've been meaning to ask you about something. Why do you take your driver's car here?" asked Xi Men, grabbing Lei's can and drink it.  
  
"I don't want anybody to know that I'm here. By the way, Shan Chai don't like going around in fancy cars," explained Ah Si, looking at Xi Men.  
  
"Ah Si, this is OUR beach house! Everyone here knows this house is Dao Ming's, Hua Zhe's, Ling's and Zhang's. No matter how you try to disguised yourself, people will know!"  
  
"I never thought of that before.," pondered Ah Si with Xi Men shaking his head disbelief with Ah Si's short thinking.  
  
"How did I end up having a friend like you?" questioned Xi Men, teasingly, trying to make as if it was mainly for himself, but loud enough for Ah Si to hear it.  
  
"Do you see this?" asked Ah Si sharply, putting up his fist.  
  
"I'm joking, just joking..okay?"  
  
"Just hit him Ah Si. He's a big mouth nowadays," said Mei Zhuo coming up to them with Jing by his side.  
  
"What are you guys talking about?" asked Shan Chai, who were also approaching them.  
  
"Good timing Shan Chai. Ah Si was just about to hit Xi Men," answered Mei Zhuo, smiling.  
  
"Ah Si! Enough violence for one day! Can't you stop being a bully? Why do you have to go around and hit people?" scolded Shan Chai, glaring at Ah Si.  
  
"I did not!. Why you..!" defended Ah Si, pointing at Xi Men.  
  
Xi Men and Mei Zhuo laughed hysterically at Ah Si and Shan Chai while Lei and Jing just smiled. Both Ah Si and Shan Chai were dumbfounded by their reaction. Looking at each other, full of questions, they looked back at Xi Men and Mei Zhuo.  
  
"Why are you laughing? What is so funny?" asked Shan Chai.  
  
"You two are so easy to get tricked at. I can't believe that trick worked again. They truly deserve each other. hahahahaha," laughed Mei Zhuo, followed by Xi Men. Having enough being teased at, Ah Si stood up and announced, "I'm going back in."  
  
"Uuuhhh. somebody is mad. Oh well, let us all go in. It's late already," indicated Xi Men to the others.  
  
The others walked by Lei heading towards the house.  
  
"Lei, aren't you coming?" asked Jing.  
  
"I want to stay here for a while," he answered briefly.  
  
'He listened to Shan Chai and care about how she felt. Dao Ming Si I knew would never care about simple things like this, but now, he would drive a cheap car just because Shan Chai dislike the fancy ones? He really cares for her. Do I still want to woo Shan Chai? I am not sure anymore. I'm not sure of Shan Chai's feelings towards me either. What if she likes him as well? Where has my confidence gone? Between friendship and love, which will I choose?'  
  
Those questions kept on popping up in his mind. He tried to act cool around the others but only he knows how he really felt at those times. The teasing remarks about Ah Si and Shan Chai from Mei Zhuo and Xi Men didn't help him in easing the matters that was dwelling within him. Worsen was more like it. He wants an exact answer. He doesn't like the unsure ness he's facing now.  
  
"Lei, may I sit here with you?"  
  
Lei spun around to find Shan Chai was looking at him. He nodded.  
  
"So, you guys have made up. That's good. I am really glad," said Shan Chai after she sat down beside him.  
  
"Ehmm."  
  
"Lei! Look! A meteor! Come on, let's make a wish," exclaimed Shan Chai all of a sudden.  
  
He looked up to the sky and saw the meteor Shan Chai was so excited about. The meteor was falling from left to right. He smiled. He looked over at Shan Chai and saw her making a wish with her eyes closed.  
  
'Looking very determined, she looked so mesmeric. Wonder what she was wishing for.'  
  
Finally she opened her eyes and smiled towards Lei.  
  
"What did you wish for, Shan Chai?"  
  
"It's a secret. If I tell you, it won't come true. So, did you make your wish?" asked Shan Chai.  
  
"No, I didn't. It was too fast. I'll do it the next time I saw a meteor. Did you remember the direction the meteor was falling?"  
  
"Yes. To the right. Why?" inquired Shan Chai, curious with Lei's question.  
  
"Remember it. you'll get to know the reason when it's time. Come on, let's go in."  
  
Lei rise and held out his hand to help Shan Chai up. Holding Lei's hand, Shan Chai stood up and walked towards the house together.  
  
However, without their knowledge, a pair of eyes was watching them. 


	16. Rumors

Chapter 16.0: Rumors  
  
She parked her scooter at her normal spot. Walking towards her class, she knows eyes were upon her and the talks they had behind her back. It doesn't bother her that much anymore, only that, she sometimes misses her invisibility. She was now immune with the attention the other students gave her, as well as the lecturers. She doesn't like it but she can't change it either. Therefore, she just deals with it. Being friends with F4, made her the centre of attraction. The other students are being nice to her now and they don't dare to mess up with her too. It's not as if they want to, but they have to because of the fear they have of F4, especially Dao Ming Si.  
  
'They are so stupid to be afraid of that 'stupid' Dao Ming Si. If only they know the true nature of the leader of F4. instead of being bullied, they could bully him! Hehehehe.he has a temper, that's true, but a childish one at that. One, you could easily manipulate. Ah Si, Ah Si.' she smiled at her thoughts.  
  
"Shan Chai! Shan Chai!"  
  
She heard her name being called out. She swirled around to the direction of the calling, stretching her neck to find the one who called out for her. Then she smiled. It was Qing He. Panting for air when he stopped abruptly in front of Shan Chai, Shan Chai looked at him curiously.  
  
"What is it, Qing He? Is something the matter?"  
  
Qing He put his hand on Shan Chai's shoulder. He looked at Shan Chai sympathetically.  
  
'Why does he look at me like that? The sadness in his eyes. something must have happened.'  
  
"Qing He. what? What's wrong?" she asked, worried.  
  
"I've just heard about it. Are you okay? I knew they were just toying with you! That stupid F4! It's okay Shan Chai. You're right. They are nothing. Just heartless, cruel and fatheaded. Especially that Dao Ming Si! How dare he play my best friend Shan Chai like this? I will."  
  
"YOU WILL WHAT?"  
  
Qing He jumped and spun around to look behind him. He was shocked and frightened to see that Dao Ming Si was behind him, pounding his right fist to his left opened hand, looking very, very angry. Seeing the look, Qing He hid behind Shan Chai.  
  
"Dao Ming Si! Calm down," said Shan Chai trying to cool down Ah Si's temper and at the same time blocking him from doing anything towards Qing He.  
  
'He must've heard Qing He. He is so enraged now. His look even frightened me! I can't show my fear to him. I have to help Qing He. What should I do? I don't even understand what Qing He was talking about just now.'  
  
"YOUR FRIEND HERE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO SHUT UP! SO, I'LL SHUT IT UP FOR HIM!" screamed Ah Si, walking forward.  
  
"DAO MING SI! STOP THIS INSTANCE!" shouted Shan Chai, putting her hand up to stop him from coming towards them any further.  
  
"Qing He, can you explain to me about what you had said just now?" asked Shan Chai with her head to the side but her eyes still fixed at Ah Si.  
  
"I. I. heard.," stuttered Qing He.  
  
"HEARD WHAT?" howled Ah Si, loosing patience.  
  
"AH SI! LET HIM FINISH! Go on, Qing He."  
  
"They all say that Dao Ming Si has got what he wants from Shan Chai and then dumped her. They say, you are only toying with her. Were you?" told Qing He, standing straight from behind Shan Chai. His fear has resided and anger was heard from his tone.  
  
"THEY WHAT? WHO TOLD YOU THIS? I'LL. I'LL PUNCH THEIR BIG FAT MOUTH!!" Ah Si roared.  
  
Shan Chai walked in front of Ah Si and smacked his shoulder with her bag. Ah Si stared at her, anger and shock mixed.  
  
"Snapped out of it! I've told you, you need to control that temper of yours. Why do you care about these stupid gossips? They can say whatever they want. They don't understand. They don't know the truth. They are jealous. Let them be! I'm not hurt, Ah Si. Just, let them be. Okay? For me?" pleaded Shan Chai.  
  
Seeing Shan Chai's pleading and hopeful eyes looking at him, Ah Si eased down and grabbed her by the shoulder.  
  
"I am so sorry, Shan Chai."  
  
"It's okay. I understand," smiled Shan Chai.  
  
Qing He looked at them with an opened jaw. He can't believe his eyes.  
  
"The rumors weren't true," he muttered.  
  
Letting go of Shan Chai, he looked at Qing He.  
  
"Of course they weren't! I am Dao Ming Si! I'm a man with 'size'," said Ah Si proudly.  
  
"Ah Si, it's SENSE, not SIZE! When will you ever get it right?" mumbled Shan Chai, shaking her head, smiling.  
  
"Whatever! Shan Chai, here is the phone I promised. My number is on the first list. Call me if there's anything," said Ah Si, giving her the new NOKIA model mobile phone.  
  
Sighing, Shan Chai took the phone and nod. Looking at her watch, she excused herself to class, dragging Qing He along. Ah Si stood there and watched her walked of. About three meters away, Shan Chai turned.  
  
"Ah Si! Don't forget to go to your class too!" yelled Shan Chai from afar, waving her hand.  
  
Ah Si waved back and smiled. After a while, he walked away.  
  
~~~*~~~*~~~  
  
Lei sat at the railing as usual while Shan Chai sitting at the floor, leaning against the railing, reading a book. They have been like that for quite some time, enjoying each other's company in silence. Out of the blue, Dido's song, White Flag, was heard. Lei looked down at Shan Chai and met Shan Chai's curious stare.  
  
"Your bag," he said.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Shan Chai took her bag and ransacked the inside, trying to find the source of the music. Then, she took out a mobile phone and picked it up.  
  
"Wei?"  
  
"Shan Chai! Where are you? Why does it take you so long to pick up the phone? Stupid woman," Ah Si's voice heard at the other line, saying the last word softly.  
  
"You are the one who is stupid! Today was my first time having a mobile phone! How'd I know you put Dido's song as the ring tone? Still call me stupid, stupid!"  
  
"Okay, okay. So, where are you?"  
  
"I'm at the." she was about to say the rooftop when Lei tapped on her shoulder and shook his head.  
  
".toilet," she quickly diverted her answer.  
  
"Come over to the café and have lunch. The others are already here, except for Lei. Have you seen him? Xi Men have been trying to call him and still can't get through."  
  
"I thought I saw him outside. I'll tell him. Bye."  
  
"They want us to be at the café. Why don't you want him to know that I'm with you?" asked Shan Chai, putting her mobile phone back into the bag.  
  
"Just trust me. You don't want him to know."  
  
Curiosity still shown at Shan Chai's face but she kept quite.  
  
"You go down first. I'll follow up in a while. Don't say anything about me."  
  
Nodding, Shan Chai took her books and bag, and went out of the door. Looking back at Lei, she saw he was still looking at the sky, sitting on the railing. Sighed, she walked down the stairs and head towards the café's direction. 


	17. Broken Heart

Chapter 17.0: Broken Heart  
  
Shan Chai made her way to the café where the others have been waiting for her at their usual spot. She was about to swung open the glass door when she saw Ah Si scolding a waitress. The waitress was so near to tears but Ah Si seemed not to notice it and kept on yelling to the poor girl. Xi Men and Mei Zhuo were merely smiling at the scene while Jing was nowhere to be seen. Shan Chai had about enough watching Ah Si's cruelty in action. She blatantly opened the door. All eyes including the waitress's instantaneously were at her.  
  
"DAO MING SI! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU"RE DOING?" she screamed, walking straight to stand between the girl and Ah Si.  
  
"She dropped the drink over my pants!" screamed Ah Si back at her.  
  
Shan Chai glared at Ah Si. Looking back at the waitress, Shan Chai apologized, "Are you okay? I'm so sorry to what he has done to you. He shouldn't have scolded you that way for just a tiny splash. You may go back to your work. Just ignore the ugly pudding head."  
  
"No! It was my entire fault. I should be more careful. This wouldn't have happened if I were more aware of the surroundings when I bring the drinks. The great Dao Ming Si is always right. I am so sorry," said the waitress to her, backing Ah Si up.  
  
Shan Chai was quite shocked to hear it. Shaking her head, she looked over at Ah Si. Ah Si was smiling mockingly at her. Looking over at the waitress, Ah Si's smile disappeared.  
  
"If sorry is enough, what's the use of the police? Why are you still lingering here for? Go away!" yelled Ah Si at the waitress.  
  
The waitress hurriedly walked away at the sound of Ah Si's command. Still glaring at Ah Si, Shan Chai sat at the chair next to him. Xi Men and Mei Zhuo was still smiling in front of her.  
  
"Do you find it amusing, Xi Men? Mei Zhuo? The girl was about to cry! Why don't you help that poor girl?" asked Shan Chai sternly.  
  
"And risk of getting beat up by him? No thanks. Well, we do found it amusing, a bit, but not as amusing as the two of you! You scolding Ah Si was a fun sight every time. ain't that true, buddy?" answered Xi Men, asking for approval from Mei Zhuo.  
  
Mei Zhuo just nodded his head, still with the teasing smile across his face. Ah Si was about to stand up and grabbed Mei Zhuo's shirt collar when Shan Chai screamed, "Ah Si, don't! Mei Zhuo, Xi Men, wipe out that stupid smirk from your face and Ah Si, try to control your temper! Arghh. can't all of you behave like adults? I'm the youngest here and yet all of you acted like small kids. Now, let us just have a normal, sensible hang out together. Peacefully!"  
  
Ah Si shot an unsatisfying look at Mei Zhuo before reclined back to his seat. Mei Zhuo and Xi Men tried to put on a more serious face, but the smiling curve was still obvious. Shrugging, Shan Chai let out a soft sigh. Looking around, Shan Chai than turned her head towards Mei Zhuo.  
  
"I didn't see Jing anywhere. Where is she?" she asked.  
  
"Oh! You know her. modeling never have the same break as the rest of the world. She's rehearsing for her show tomorrow night. Here, this is the invitation card. You're invited. She wants you to come," explained Mei Zhuo, handing her a purple-pink card.  
  
"I've never been to a fashion show before. Wow! It will be held at the JW Marriot? This must be a formal occasion. I don't think I have the appropriate attire. Does a casual knee-length dress count?"  
  
"No! Never mind about the dress. I think you'll fit in with Zhuang's. She have some in her wardrobe. It's quite old-fashioned but it'll do. What do you think, guys?" consulted Ah Si with the other two.  
  
"Yeah. I guess she's about her size. Why don't we go over to your house now and have a look?" agreed Xi Men.  
  
"Wait! Lei's not here yet. He said he'll be coming over soon," protested Shan Chai.  
  
"Oh Well! We'll just wait for him then. We're not in a rush anyway," said Xi Men in agreement.  
  
"How about if we eat lunch first? I'm hungry," suggested Mei Zhuo.  
  
The others nodded their head in unison. Xi Men, Mei Zhuo and Ah Si stood and went over to the buffet table. While waiting for them, Shan Chai took out the new mobile phone she had received from Ah Si and started to go through the menu. Not long after that, the three guys came back with 6 plates full of food. Ah Si set one of the plates in front of her. Shocked to see the amount of food, she stared at Ah Si questionably.  
  
"Is this for me? Are you stupid? This is 3 times more than the amount of food I eat! I couldn't finish this up."  
  
"You're so skinny. Eat more!" ordered Ah Si.  
  
Mumbling unsatisfied to herself, she took the fork and started to go through the pile of food on her plate. There were salad, macaroni and cheese, pizza, sushi, lasagna and other foods, jumbled all up. Picking up a slice of tomato, she asked, "Ah Si, I've just noticed that I only have your number in this phone. Why didn't you install the other's number in the phone book?"  
  
"You have a mouth. Ask them yourself."  
  
"Ah Si, sometimes you can be so rude! This is one of them! Ahhh. forget it! I'm tired of having to fight you all the time."  
  
Ah Si was about to answer back but at the end he cancelled it and kept on eating. Shan Chai ignored this sudden change of behavior from Ah Si and faced Xi Men.  
  
"What's your number? You too, Mei Zhuo. Don't forget about Jing's as well."  
  
"Here, let me key them in for you. Wow! This is the newest mobile in the market. Ah Si, how come you never give me one? I'm your friend too," teased Xi Men, taking the phone from Shan Chai and key in his number, Mei Zhuo's and Jing's.  
  
"You have the money to buy your own," answered Ah Si, dryly.  
  
"Shan Chai, don't you want Lei's number as well?" inquired Xi Men, curious when Shan Chai didn't ask for Lei's.  
  
"No, it's okay. I'll ask from him myself."  
  
Hearing Shan Chai's answer, Ah Si pulled up a sour face. He put down his fork and changed the conversation towards a new direction.  
  
"Shan Chai, about the rumor, I think it's best if I pick you up as before. That'll stop it once and for all."  
  
"Rumor? What rumor?" asked Mei Zhuo, finally taking his head up from the second plate of food.  
  
"It's really nothing. Ah Si just making a big fuss out of it," said Shan Chai, refusing to answer the question.  
  
"Nothing? They are talking bad about you and you still say 'nothing'?" exclaimed Ah Si with a high tone.  
  
"They talk about what they don't understand. Just let them be, Ah Si. I don't want you to go around the college and make life a living hell for the other students, especially the ones who started the rumors. I'm serious, Ah Si!"  
  
"Excuse me. the two of us still don't know what the rumor was? Care to explain?" Xi Men cut in.  
  
"Since she have been going to the college with her scooter again this week, the students have been gossiping around that I dumped her because I have gotten what I want. I have no idea what's it all about really, but I know it's a bad thing."  
  
Mei Zhuo and Xi Men looked at each other and laughed.  
  
"Innocent and naïve. Ah Si, they thought you already slept with her and have her virginity."  
  
"XI MEN!" exclaimed Shan Chai, her face all flustered up because of embarrassment.  
  
"WHAT? Shan Chai, I know I've promised you but this is too much! I'm going to get the ones that have been spreading the rumors around!" growled Ah Si, standing up and ready to go.  
  
Anger was apparently shown on his face. Scared of probably of what he would do, Shan Chai took a hold of his hand.  
  
"Ah Si. Please don't make it worst. Let it go. People will forget all about it after some time. Ah Si." begged Shan Chai.  
  
"She's right, Ah Si. For once, just drop it man," backed up Mei Zhuo.  
  
Ah Si stopped on his track for a while before turning around to face them. Slowly, he sat back down in his seat, looking at the firm grip of Shan Chai's hands. Finally realize Ah Si was looking at her hand, Shan Chai instantly released them from his.  
  
"Shan Chai, you look red.hahahahaha," laughed Xi Men, teasing Shan Chai's reddish cheeks.  
  
Followed by Mei Zhuo, the two of them laughed their heart out even though Shan Chai were glaring at them. After their laughter died down, Mei Zhuo brought up another topic.  
  
"Hey, Ah Si. The semester would be ending in two more weeks. Where are we going for the holiday?"  
  
"Mei Zhuo, we have three more weeks, not two! The last week would be the final exams, remember?" corrected Shan Chai.  
  
"Shan Chai, we own this college. Obviously we are going to get a four flat, no matter we're sitting for the exams or not," Ah Si proudly proclaimed.  
  
"Huh! Rich spoilt brats!"  
  
"Don't blame us for living our life and wealth. Anyway, about the break?" asked Mei Zhuo again.  
  
"I have my own plans."  
  
"Come one Ah Si. Let's go somewhere. All of F4," said Xi Men trying to influence Ah Si to joint in.  
  
"Hey! Don't forget about my darling, Jing. Shan Chai, how about you? Care to join us?"  
  
"Sorry guys. I'm going to spend a week or two of my holidays with my parents. I miss them."  
  
"Shan Chai! You've promised that the first week you're going to the States with me! Forgetful woman!" exclaimed Ah Si, staring at her.  
  
"Oh! Yeah, you're right! It's only for a few days, right? I still have to work during the holidays. My leave is only for two weeks."  
  
Ah Si nodded his head. All the while during their little conversation, Xi Men and Mei Zhuo were staring at them in disbelieve. They were trying to cope up with Ah Si's sentence: '.you're going to the States with me'. Facing each other, Xi Men gave Mei Zhuo a questioning look as if he were asking: 'Did you hear what I just heard?' and Mei Zhuo nodded, reaffirming that he heard it as well.  
  
"Hold on a second! Go back! You're going to take Shan Chai to America?" asked Mei Zhuo, trying to get a sure answer from Ah Si himself.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Why?" inquired Xi Men, not satisfied with Ah Si's short answer.  
  
"To meet Zhuang and if possible, my mother as well."  
  
"WHAT?" exclaimed both Xi Men and Mei Zhuo.  
  
Shan Chai looked at Xi Men and Mei Zhuo. Their expression was overwhelming. It made her curious.  
  
"You... are going to introduce Shan Chai. to the Empress? Are you out of your mind?"  
  
"Don't make it sound so bad! She's still my mother. I want Zhuang and my mother to approve of my relationship with Shan Chai."  
  
This time, both Xi Men and Mei Zhuo's jaw dropped. Shan Chai just stared at them. Her curiosity increases.  
  
"RELATIONSHIP? How long have the two of you being in a relationship?" uttered Xi Men aloud, still not able to believe what he had heard.  
  
"About two weeks ago, I think. You two didn't know? I thought you've told them, Ah Si," answered Shan Chai, still don't quite understand of the reason Xi Men and Mei Zhuo's reaction.  
  
"Well, I guess I forgot. Don't worry Shan Chai. My mother is not really as bad as they want you to believe. We'll be meeting Zhuang first. You'll like her. She's as fierce as you are."  
  
"Maybe we could gang up to bully you.hehehe."  
  
"You wish!"  
  
"She's going to meet Ah Si's mother." Xi Men said softly, still in disbelieve to Mei Zhuo.  
  
The two of them were still in shock, but not far from them, behind the sidewall, stood someone else, his shoes glued to the floor, his legs were paralyzed and he was in a deeper shock from the conversation he had just overheard.  
  
~~~*~~~*~~~  
  
He froze. Leaning slowly against the wall, he gazed up. His expression was devastating. He seemed lost in his own world.  
  
'They are in a relationship? He's taking her to see his mother. I... I. I can't believe what I've just heard. Shan Chai and Ah Si? Am I already lost in this game? Shan Chai is no longer mine? First, it was Jing. Now it's Shan Chai. Will there ever be someone out there for me? Will I have the chance to feel loved? What should I do now?'  
  
Taking another glance at the four of them and lingered for quite some time at Shan Chai, he heaved out a soft, distressed sigh. His eyes were now glassy. He couldn't face them now, especially not Shan Chai and Ah Si. The sadness and frustration he felt now, he was afraid they would simply realize it. Taking his mobile, he sent out a message to Xi Men. With a heavy heart, he took off the other way around.  
  
'I hope you're happy with the one you love, my dear sweet Shan Chai. I hope we could still be friends.as long as you're still by my side. I will protect and support you. A guardian angel. that is all I can be now. For now, I need to be alone. Goodbye, sweet Shan Chai.'  
  
~~~*~~~*~~~  
  
"Tit.Tit.Tit."  
  
Xi Men took out his phone from his left pocket. Scrolling down to read the message, he shook his head.  
  
"It's Lei. He's not coming. Here we are, waiting for him, and he didn't even bother to show up. That guy is really an introvert. After all this years, I still can't understand him. Oh well! Let's go find Shan Chai a dress."  
  
Shan Chai was taking her time to get up while the others have already done so. She turned around at the sidewall. For no reason, she felt someone was there. She felt something amiss. She couldn't quite make it but she have a feeling it must be something that has gone awfully wrong.  
  
"Shan Chai. Why are you still standing there? Let's go! What a slow poke!" grumbled Ah Si.  
  
Sighing, she looked over at Ah Si, nodded and hurriedly went to his side.  
  
'Why didn't Lei show up? Something's wrong. I can feel it! He was being a bit different earlier. Oh, Lei! Where are you? I wish you'd tell me. Now I regret not wanting Lei's number. Tomorrow when I see him, I'll ask him for his number and also if there was something bothering him. But tomorrow are still hours away from now.'  
  
She felt a slight touch on her arm. It was Ah Si. He gestured his head asking if something's a matter. She forced out a smile and shook her head. She doesn't want him to know she was worried of Lei. 


	18. Give Up?

Chapter 18.0: Give Up?  
  
Lei kept on tossing around on his bed. He can't shut his eyes. Whenever he tried to shut it and fall asleep, the dream he had before came rushing back to his mind. The tears running down on her sweet face before saying her goodbyes was unbearable. Knowing that he probably wouldn't get any sleep, he finally settled down by lying on his back on the bed, his left arm rested on his forehead, his face facing straight at the ceiling and a pillow settled on his chest.  
  
'She's with Ah Si? Could it be true? But, they've never showed any signs of having a relationship. The look on her eyes when she looked at me was still the same caring, loving sight. That would mean she still likes me. Why would she look at me that way if she were having a relationship with Ah Si? Why would she still come up to the rooftop to be with me? Why would she hug me in front of Ying De that night? She was so happy to see me. That could not be an act. The both of them can't be lying about their relationship, could they? If they were, they are extremely good. Even I, an observer, aren't able to detect the difference.'  
  
There were so many questions in his head. Giving out a sigh, he sat up and got out of bed. He went straight to the balcony and stood by the railing.  
  
'Shan Chai.what should I do now? I was so sure of myself that you would be mine, Shan Chai. Have I not shown you enough signs or the affection I felt for you, that you, out of the blue, accept Ah Si instead of me? I just can't let you go.I can't. I would be nothing without you, Shan Chai.'  
  
He put his arms on the railing and rest his head on them. He was in that condition for sometime before he looked up again. His face brightened a bit as if he was struck by an idea. He finally realized something.  
  
'I've been thinking this all wrong! They said they are in a relationship, but what type of relationship? Why does every time when someone proclaimed they were having a relationship, we would assume it was love? Maybe this was all a misunderstanding. Maybe Ah Si was purposely planning for this? Probably because of that bet! He wanted us to presume they were now a couple. That was why, Shan Chai was shocked to learn that Xi Men and Mei Zhuo didn't know about her relationship with Ah Si. I would not give up that easily, unless I am very certain they really are a couple. Tomorrow.'  
  
Feeling a lot better than before, he walked back to his room, set the alarm clock and climbed back to his bed. Ever since he got close to Shan Chai, he had been using his alarm clock to wake him up in the morning so that he would be at the rooftop when she was there during her free period.  
  
~~~*~~~*~~~  
  
Waking up early in the morning, at about fifteen minutes after seven, she hummed a happy tune while making up her bed. She then went to the toilet to wash up and brushed her teeth. The tune was still heard coming out from her. After dabbing her face with a towel, she looked around her house.  
  
"Well, where should I start first?" She asked herself, eyeing from one corner of the house to the other.  
  
'It has been awhile since I have spent my time in this house. Usually I have to hang out with F4 or just sleep in during the weekdays since my time was full with classes and work.'  
  
After sometime, she figured she would dust off the ceiling from spider webs. Taking out the long cobweb broom from the store, Shan Chai tied up a towel over her nose to keep out from inhaling dusts. She has just finished cleaning two corners of the house when the doorbell rang. Putting down the broom, she went to open the door. To her surprise, Hua Zhe Lei was standing in front of her.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she asked while pulling down the towel.  
  
Lei smiled. Taking out his handkerchief, he covered his nose with it, tying it up at the back. Still not answering her question, he allowed himself in the house and went over to the broom, passing the shocked Shan Chai.  
  
"Wait! Lei, what are you doing?"  
  
Looking at her, he winked and continued her work before, brushing off cobwebs. Seeing that she wouldn't get an answer from him, and that his action was obvious, he's going to help her with the house cleaning; she placed the towel back over her nose and went to the store again.  
  
She came out with a towel and a bucket filled with a quarter of water. Taking a glance at Lei, she dipped the towel in the water, squeezed it to drench the excess water and started to wipe off dust from the side table.  
  
'I wonder why he showed up in front of my house this early in the morning. I thought Xi Men said that he have to have his 15 hours sleep everyday. About yesterday,.should I ask him? Maybe later.'  
  
At about 3 hours later, they stopped cleaning and Shan Chai took out two bottles of cold green tea. Sitting down on the tatami at the living room, side by side with the bottles between them, each of them faced the window in silence.  
  
Looking at Lei slowly, she tried to form up sentences for opening a conversation. But, before she could manage to voice out, Lei beat her to it.  
  
"I was sleepy yesterday. I went back home to sleep."  
  
"How did you know I wanted to ask you about yesterday?" asked Shan Chai, amazed with his sudden statement.  
  
"Would you go to Jing's fashion show with me?" Lei asked, avoiding her question.  
  
He turned his head towards her, smiling and hoping. Shan Chai, looked into his eyes.  
  
'His dreamy eyes looked so hopeful. I wanted to go with him. I really do. Ah Si. how about him? I've made a promise with him yesterday.'  
  
He obviously could see the hesitation in her because of what he spoke next hit the bulls eye.  
  
"You've promised Ah Si."  
  
She couldn't help but to nod. There's no way she could lie to him. He could read her like the back of his hand.  
  
"If you hadn't, who would you rather go with?"  
  
She looked at his face. Shan Chai really doesn't understand why he would ask her that question or where it would lead to but she answered him with the truth.  
  
"You. It always will be you, Lei."  
  
She could see his smile formed. His face lit up.  
  
"Let's tell Ah Si, you're going with me. Would you mine?"  
  
"YOU better tell him. I don't want to hear his fit! You know how he is."  
  
Nodding slightly, he took out his phone and dialed Ah Si's number.  
  
"Hello, Ah Si. I'm at Shan Chai's. She's going to tonight's show with me. See you there."  
  
After saying those few sentences, he hung up. Shan Chai looked at him, disbelieved.  
  
"Did you really talk to him? Or was it the voicemail?"  
  
"It's him."  
  
"What? You just told him and hung up? Do you know how he'll react? He would call me up, or outburst his anger at us tonight!" exclaimed Shan Chai.  
  
"Do you really care about his feelings?" inquired Lei with an interest look on his face.  
  
"Mochiron! Of course I care! If not, we are both going to be in big trouble with him! Furthermore, he's my niichan!"  
  
Smiling even broader, Lei said, "As I had expected. Renounce I shall not."  
  
------------------------------------------------------------  
  
P/S: Well, what do you think? I hope you won't be mad at me anymore for the previous chapter. Does this chapter up to all of your taste and standard? Do drop a line @ comment. 


	19. Anger, Secret and Awe

Chapter 19: Anger, Secret and Awe  
  
"Wei! Wei! LEI!" screamed Ah Si at his hand phone.  
  
Realizing that the other party has hung up, he tried dialing the caller back but to his surprise, it has been switched off. He makes another call, but the result was the same as before. Throwing his phone at the couch, he kicked the coffee table in front of him. Both Mei Zhuo and Xi Men were startled by his sudden fit.  
  
"Ah Si! What's with you? Why did Lei called you?" asked Mei Zhuo, confused.  
  
Mei Zhuo looked at Xi Men as though he would get an answer from him, but to his dismay, a shrug was the only thing he received. Xi Men was just as confuse as he was.  
  
"Lei walked off with your girlfriend? Is that why he called? To tell you about it? Hehehehe." joked Mei Zhuo.  
  
"YOU KNEW ABOUT IT? YOU'VE GANGED UP WITH HIM? ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE FUN OF ME, MEI ZHUO?" screamed Ah Si at Mei Zhuo, grabbing his shoulders and shake them hard.  
  
Xi Men stood and put his hand on Ah Si's shoulder, trying to calmed him down.  
  
"Ah Si, we don't know anything. we have no idea. Mei Zhuo. he's just joking. Release him, man."  
  
Ah Si gave Mei Zhuo a push before releasing him. Giving out a huff, he sat down at the same couch he threw his hand phone. Picking his phone back, he looked at it. Seeing that Ah Si has calmed a bit, Xi Men sat back at his previous spot. Mei Zhuo stood and walked towards Ah Si. Sitting next to him, Mei Zhuo put a hand over his shoulder.  
  
"Sorry man. I was only joking around. I didn't know. What did he said, really?" apologized Mei Zhuo, at the same wondering what Lei had told Ah Si that made him this angry.  
  
"He's at Shan Chai's. I presumed, helping with her house cleaning. He called to say that he's going to the show with HER! He's snatching my date away from me!" screamed Ah Si.  
  
Mei Zhuo shot Xi Men his surprised look. Surprisingly, it was at the exact time as Xi Men giving him his same expression.  
  
"I can't believe he did that. There must be a good explanation for all this, Ah Si. We'll ask him tonight at the show, okay? For the mean time.try to control yourself. Mei Zhuo, you look after him. By the way, what's the time?"  
  
Mei Zhuo gave him a questioning look. It was either because he was asked to look after Ah Si or because Xi Men asked him the time so suddenly.  
  
"Why don't you look at your own watch?"  
  
"I don't wear a watch anymore.what for if my mobile phone can already take its job?" answered Xi Men casually.  
  
"Then, why don't you look at it?"  
  
"Too lazy to pull it out from my pocket pants," said Xi Men, smiling teasingly.  
  
Mei Zhuo frowned. Looking at his watch, he gave the answer Xi Men had wanted, "It's 11.15. May I know now why you need to know the time?"  
  
Still smiling, Xi Men excused himself, "Sorry guys.I got to go. Have a big meeting. See you two tonight, and Ah Si, don't worry about Lei. We'll get to the bottom of it tonight."  
  
Seeing Xi Men leave, Mei Zhuo smiled, "A new Mei Mei, eh? Don't forget about tonight, you lucky man."  
  
"Missed it already, Mei Zhuo? Hehehehe.take care of your 'girlfriend' there," teased Xi Men, walking out of Ah Si's house.  
  
"And you take care of the introvert!" yelled Mei Zhuo, getting back at Xi Men.  
  
~~~*~~~*~~~  
  
Xi Men drove his car towards the direction of the park. At the side of the main entrance gate, a girl in a flowery dress was waiting. Stopping his car beside her, Xi Men whirled down his car window. The girl gave out a smile to him in recognition. Going over to the passenger's side, the girl opened the door and slid in.  
  
"Sorry I'm late. Did you wait for me long?" asked Xi Men.  
  
Shaking her head, she asked, "Where are we heading to?"  
  
"Like usual. Let's have coffee first."  
  
Xi Men grabbed her hand and caressed it for awhile. Then, he drove his car to the normal café he usually have his coffee.  
  
Once there, they placed their order. Xi Men, black coffee without sugar and the girl, ice blended cappuccino.  
  
"This has been our second week. I thought the expiry date was only a week. Why do you chose me?"  
  
Taking a sip of his coffee, Xi Men answered, looking straight at her, "The answer was obvious. No one has ever made me feel the way I have for you."  
  
"What would you tell them? Do you think they'll approve of us?" asked the girl, curiosity and sadness in her voice.  
  
Xi Men took her hand from the table and held it tightly, assuring her.  
  
"Don't you worry... they'll accept you. and us. My only hope, she'll approve."  
  
"Oh.she's going to be okay. There will be fuss at first, but she'll take it nevertheless," said the girl, smiling and looked at their intertwined hands.  
  
"Here, I have something for you," Xi Men handed her a beautifully wrapped gift.  
  
"What's this?" asked the girl.  
  
Taking the gift, she tried to shake it but no sound coming out from it. Looking at Xi Men, she gave out a questionable look.  
  
"Open it up and you'll know."  
  
Freeing her hand, she unwrapped it slowly. Seeing what it was, she gave out a gasped.  
  
"I can't believe this. Where did you get it? It's suppose to come out in stores by next week!" exclaimed the girl, anxiously going through the pages of the Fifth Harry Potter book collection, Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix.  
  
"Oh my.! It's even signed by J.K Rowling herself! Thank you! Thank you, so much!!"  
  
Xi Men smiled at her. "I requested this especially for you. Glad you liked it. Well, come on, we still have a movie to catch."  
  
Nodding, she held the gift tightly, her smile still lingered at her cheerful face.  
  
~~~*~~~*~~~  
  
Meanwhile, half an hour before seven, at Shan Chai's house, Lei was waiting for her at the living room. He was wearing a white creamy three quarter sleeve shirt and a black slack with slight grayish stripes.  
  
He was just about to go out of the house when Shan Chai opened her door and came out of her room. She wore a black knee length dress, rumples on the neckline that slightly showed her neck bone and a long slit at the sleeve from the elbow to the wrist. Her hair hangs loose with big wavy curls at the end.  
  
'Though she only wears a slight makeup, she looked astoundingly beautiful. Jing had taught her well. Even Zhuang Jie's dress fits her perfectly.'  
  
"Shan Chai.you looked wonderful."  
  
Smiling and blushing slightly, she said, "Thank you, Lei. You looked great yourself."  
  
'Even with blusher, I could still manage to caught her blushing. She really is stunning in that dress.'  
  
Lei held out his hand at her, "Let's go. We don't want to be late for the opening of the show."  
  
Taking it, she smiled and nodded. 


	20. Jealousy Is Inevitable

Chapter 20: Jealous Is Inevitable  
  
They arrived at the J.W. Marriot hotel at exactly seven o'clock. Their entrance made quite an impact with the reporters and photographers. Hua Zhe Lei smiled, nodded politely to all of them and refused to give out any comments. All the while, he was holding Shan Chai's hand tightly, trying his best to led Shan Chai away from the mob. Though she was shocked and dumbfounded, she managed to follow Lei's footsteps towards the venue of the function. Once inside the grand ballroom, Lei stopped and turned to face her.  
  
"Daijobu desu ka?" asked Lei with a concerned look on his face.  
  
"Ha? Hehehe.sorry Lei. I don't understand. Didn't bring the dictionary you gave me along. See, my purse is too small," smiled Shan Chai showing him her black, small purse.  
  
Lei smiled and caressed Shan Chai's hand. "I meant, are you okay? You really should start to memorize normal, simple sentences in Japanese."  
  
"Oh.sorry. I promise I'll try," said Shan Chai, grinning.  
  
"Lei, why are they taking pictures?"  
  
"I'm the heir of the four richest families in Taiwan. Obviously, they are very surprised to see me with a girl. You'll see the pictures in tomorrow's papers. I hope your parents won't freak out," explained Lei, gazing straight at her in a concerned look.  
  
Shan Chai shook her head.  
  
'I doubt they'll be upset about it.happy would be the right word for it. They would send me a telegram because of it.' "Emm. where would the others be?" asked Shan Chai, trying to swerve the conversation to another topic while scanning around the ballroom.  
  
At the middle of the ballroom, a stage for the models to do their catwalk was set with beautiful decorations and fresh white roses along the catwalk plank. The stage where the models would appear has an arch of more fresh yellow and white roses with the same colored balloons at the side end. In between the arch, gold writings were clearly visible: Jimmy Choo Summer Collection.  
  
"Lei, who is Jimmy Choo?" asked Shan Chai, still looking at the stage.  
  
Lei turned his head to the same sight and replied, "He's a famous shoe designer. This show is about his new shoe collection for the summer. Jing loves his design. She has quite a collection of his. That is why she was so excited to do the show."  
  
"Ohh." Shan Chai responded, awed and at the same time felt quite foolish for not knowing about the famous shoe designer.  
  
Shan Chai looked at her shoe.  
  
'I bet this one is expensive too. Could this be a Jimmy Choo's collection? If it weren't because of F4, I would've never dreamed that one day I'd be able to wear this shoe, this dress and ride fancy cars. This was all a fake to me. It's not me, but being me was the reason they all became my friends. Rich or poor wasn't the main principle of having good friends. I'm glad I had the chance to get to know them all. To get to know Lei.' she thought, glancing over at Lei.  
  
"Shan Chai.there."  
  
Lei's sudden utterance startled her from her thoughts. She looked over at the direction Lei was looking. Coming out from the backstage was Mei Zhuo and Xi Men, smiling and talking to each other happily.  
  
'They probably went in there to say good luck to Jing. And I have a feeling they are 'sightseeing' at the same time. Playboys.'  
  
"Aren't we going over to them?" asked Shan Chai when Lei just stood there, not making a move.  
  
"They've seen us."  
  
Not long after that, Mei Zhuo and Xi Men were already standing in front of them, looking at Shan Chai from up to down.  
  
"What?" asked Shan Chai, suppressing her voice tone.  
  
"Wow! You look magnificent Shan Chai. Astounding! No wonder you are the craze of many," spoke Mei Zhuo, looking over at Lei.  
  
"Huh? What are you talking about?" asked Shan Chai, not entirely understand what it was all about.  
  
"Nothing. So, both of you just arrived? They will start the show in another 15 minutes. Our seats are over there, the first row on the right. They already put the reserve signs up."  
  
While Xi Men showed them where they'd seat, Shan Chai looked around for Ah Si. Not able to spot him anywhere, she asked, "Mei Zhuo, where's Ah Si? He has arrived, right?"  
  
Mei Zhuo looked at her with concern. Even his face seemed to be quite serious. Not getting any answer from him, she asked again. Finally, he replied.  
  
"He's here. At the bar. One floor down."  
  
Shan Chai glanced over at Lei as if asking for his opinion. With an assurance smile, Lei nodded. Seeing that he had approved, Shan Chai excused herself to find Ah Si.  
  
The bar was not so big. She could easily spot him. There is no other young, handsome bloke that was brooding over his drink other than him.  
  
'He looked tense and out of space. Wonder what he was thinking. Is it because of me going off with Lei? Or is it because I broke our promise? I just hope he wouldn't scream at me in here.'  
  
Slowly and cautiously, she walked over to Ah Si and sat at the stool beside him. She stared at him warily, afraid he would make any drastic reaction. Noticing that someone sat beside him, Ah Si glanced over at her but as quickly, he turned back to look at his glass, ignoring her. She wanted to say something to him when the bartender came and abruptly cut her to it.  
  
"Miss, what would it be?"  
  
Before she could politely decline, Ah Si stared at the bartender and snapped, "ARE YOU BLIND? SHE'S TOO YOUNG TO DRINK! GET LOST!!"  
  
She was shocked to see him snapped so suddenly. Even the other customers were looking at them. The bartender quickly said sorry and left. His face was red either because of embarrassment or because of anger.  
  
Shan Chai was stunned. She just looked at him. Usually she would snapped back at him for scolding innocent people like that, but tonight she decided to let him get away with it.  
  
'He shouldn't have channeled his anger to other people like that. Well, I guess it was partly my fault. I can't blame him for it entirely. I hope he'll listen to me.'  
  
"Ah Si, I am so sorry. Yeah. I know. If sorry were enough, what's the need for the police. But, I really am sorry, Ah Si. I shouldn't have blown you off like that. But." Shan Chai said, slowly and sincerely apologizing to Ah Si.  
  
"Tell me one thing, Shan Chai. Do you really like him? Did you agreed to go with him even though you have promised me? Or was it solely his idea, without you knowing it? Tell me the truth. You owe me that much," inquired Ah Si, hurt in his voice and he was still not looking at her.  
  
Shan Chai kept silent. She doesn't know how to answer those questions without making Ah Si's temper climbed even further up.  
  
"I. I knew. He asked me first. I'm the one who told him to inform you about the change of plan. I. know I'm at fault. Please forgive Lei. You can be mad at me your entire life and I won't blame you for it, but please. don't break your friendship with Lei," pleaded Shan Chai, looking down at her own intertwined hands.  
  
Hearing her shaky, pleading voice, Ah Si turned to look at her. Holding one hand onto her hands and the other lifting up her chin, he looked deep into her eyes before uttering the words next.  
  
"Shan Chai. I could never hate you. I could never hate Lei either. You are my sweet sister and he was my best friend. I have known him for a very long time. if he's the one you like, don't worry, I won't stop you. You have my support. He's a good man. I know. Anyway, please don't tell about this. I don't want to let them know I've softened up. They wouldn't let go of it for a very long time! Promise me, little sis?" explained Ah Si, smiling slightly.  
  
His answer was quite a shock. She didn't believe her ears at first. Focusing at his face, she could see the tenseness has lift off from it. It was now being placed by one of his sweetest smile. She could even see his cute little dimple. However, she thought she saw a glimpse of sadness in his eyes before he broke away from her gaze.  
  
Putting down the money he owed for his drink and some tips, still holding on to Shan Chai's hand, he led her back towards the ballroom.  
  
The show was about to start when they stepped in the ballroom. Finding their seats, they rejoined the others. Shan Chai sat between Mei Zhuo and Ah Si while Lei sat at the other end by Xi Men's side. She tried to steal glances from Lei, but to no avail, he just stared at the show booklet. Finally giving up, she paid her attention to the show. One by one, the models walked down the stage plank. Each one was beautiful, the clothes, the shoes and the model themselves. The sounds of clapping and music filled the room but she could still manage to hear scores discussed by Mei Zhuo and Xi Men for each of the models.  
  
Tapping Mei Zhuo's thigh slightly, she whispered, "What would Jing's score be?"  
  
Leaning near to Shan Chai's ear, he whispered back, "For her it will always be 11 over 10."  
  
And he was absolutely true. Jing's turned was next and she looked wonderfully beautiful and stunning. She outshined the other models. No wonder she was the last one out. Even her shoe was far more glittered than the others were. The show ended subsequently after that. They waited for Jing outside the ballroom. While waiting, Xi Men was busy collecting phone numbers of the other models, while Ah Si was in a conversation with Mei Zhuo. Lei however, were sitting quietly at the sofa, reading a magazine.  
  
Shan Chai was about to head towards Lei when she heard the others calling after her and Lei. Jing was finally out. She hurriedly went over to her.  
  
"Jing, you were fantastic! Congratulations." she exclaimed.  
  
"Thank you, Shan Chai. Thank you to all of you. You looked wonderful yourself Shan Chai."  
  
"Enough chit chat, how about if we go over to VS to celebrate Jing's successful show? The chatting could resume over there," suggested Mei Zhuo, wrapping his arm over Jing's waist.  
  
"You just want to get yourself alone with Jing. Anyway, sure. Let's go! Lei, come on! We're heading to VS," called out Xi Men to Lei, who was taking his sweet time walking over to them.  
  
"Shan Chai, ride with me?" asked Ah Si quietly.  
  
He stared at her, waiting for her answer. She was perplexed of the sudden request. Shan Chai turned her head to look over at Lei but he already made his way to the elevator with Xi Men. Finally nodding, Ah Si took her hand and walked towards the same direction as Lei, just right behind Mei Zhuo and Jing. 


	21. The Truth

Chapter 21: The Truth  
  
He stared at his glass that still has a quarter of wine left. Occasionally he would glance over the main entrance. Kept on a good watch whenever the door opened or closed. Waiting for the one he hoped would emerge soon. He looked over to his left, Mei Zhuo and Jing are having their secret, private conversation where Mei Zhuo was doing most of the whispering at Jing's ear. Once in a while Jing would give out her sweet smile, soft giggle and closed her mouth with her right palm whenever she would grin. Her politeness never leaves her, no matter where she was. A real aristocrat.  
  
'Mei Zhuo and Jing are already in their own world. They looked so happy with each other's company. Would I have the chance to be like them? Living in the world full of love for one and another. Where nothing would break us apart? Would it be Shan Chai? Even if I already know that Ah Si and her are having a platonic relationship.I don't think Ah Si have that passionless emotion towards Shan Chai. I could see it in his eyes. His eyes would burn with jealousy whenever he saw me with Shan Chai and lit up when he have her for himself. What ever he is feeling, Shan Chai doesn't feel that way for him. That I am sure. She chose me over him today. Am I being a bad friend? I don't know. But one thing for sure, I will never give her up unless Shan Chai herself told me she only thinks of me as a friend and nothing more,' he thought.  
  
He gave out a soft sigh, unheard by the loving couple next to him. Looking back at the door, he felt frustrated. She's still not there. Ah Si and Shan Chai are late. A half an hour late. He's not mad or jealous. He believed them. He believed Shan Chai. Worry was more the way he felt right then. They all came from the same venue, and their sit are still vacant.  
  
Picking up the bottle of wine in front of him and refill his glass, he adjusted his sight towards Xi Men at the bar. A small smile formed on his face. His glass changed hands from left to his right hand. His eyes still fixed on Xi Men. Xi Men was trying his charm on a slender, sexy, brunette girl with pink top and black mini skirt that was skimpy enough for a 9 year old. The girl was obviously throwing herself at Xi Men and he noticed Xi Men hands were already on her hip. Xi Men evidently has won.  
  
Taking another sip from his glass, he heard the door opened. He quickly gave a glance over it. Walking in from the door was the face of the person he was waiting for. Shan Chai and Ah Si walked in casually side by side towards their table where Mei Zhuo, Jing and he are seated. Lei adjusted his seat and took another sip. He was trying to act oblivious of their arrival. Shan Chai went straight over to Lei, trying to make him aware of her presence. When he seemed to be unaware of her, her expression changed from cheery to thwart. Quietly, she sat at the empty seat beside him and nudged his side softly, hard enough for him to notice it. Looking at her, he smiled slightly.  
  
"Are you trying to outdone Lei's lateness with Shan Chai before, at your house? So, what would your excuse be? Don't tell me you bought something for Shan Chai as well. Get creative, man!" asked Mei Zhuo jokingly, aiming it at Ah Si after noticing the two approaching them.  
  
Ah Si glared at Mei Zhuo. Before he could screamed out an unpleasant remark, Shan Chai butted in.  
  
"Forgive us for being late. No, Ah Si did not buy anything for me. Exactly, we were searching something for Jing. Give it to her, Ah Si. It's nothing really, but the thought that counts, right? Congratulation for a job well done, Jing."  
  
Shan Chai grabbed Ah Si's right hand and jerked it when Ah Si still stood statically, eyeing the laughing Mei Zhuo. As if he were just awake, he looked over at Shan Chai. Shan Chai glaringly looked at him and gestured him to hand over the gift they bought for Jing. Nodding, Ah Si took out a bouquet of red roses in his well-hidden left hand from his back and presented it to the shocked Jing.  
  
"Congratulations," wished Ah Si.  
  
Taking the flowers from Ah Si, Jing looked at him and over at Shan Chai. Smiling, she thanked them. Ah Si triumphantly smiled at Mei Zhuo, annoying him in the process before taking his seat next to Shan Chai. Lei watched the annoyed look on Mei Zhuo's face and the winning look on Ah Si's face with interest. He could not help to laugh at them. His sudden outburst laugh shocked all of the people at the table. They looked at him questioningly. As sudden as his laugh, his halted laughter also was the same.  
  
"What is so funny until the straight-face Lei laughed out loudly?" asked Xi Men, walking over to them and sat at the empty seat between Mei Zhuo and Ah Si.  
  
"That is what we all would like to know, too!" answered Shan Chai, still eyeing Lei suspiciously.  
  
All of them stared at him, waiting for his reply. He looked over at them, one by one, with a blank expression as if nothing unusual has happened.  
  
"Oh! I give up! He is just too unpredictable and mysterious," surrendered Ah Si looking a bit displeased.  
  
The others just nodded slightly and looked away from Lei. Mei Zhuo picked up the bottle of wine and poured them inside Ah Si and Shan Chai's glass. Xi Men waved his hand to a waitress nearby and ordered another bottle of wine when he saw the amount of the current bottle has decreased slightly to finish.  
  
"I agree with Ah Si! Anyway, let's make a toast to Jing for a successful show. Cheers!" announced Mei Zhuo, lifting his glass and clicked them with the others.  
  
"Thank you all. You're all so sweet and Ah Si, Shan Chai, thank you for the wonderful flowers," thanked Jing, looking at all of them with grateful eyes.  
  
Xi Men smiled mischievously at Ah Si and Shan Chai.  
  
"Oooo. Shan Chai and Ah Si. buy flowers. together! How sweeeeet."  
  
"Knock it off Xi Men," snapped Shan Chai, pouting and glancing over at Lei.  
  
But it seems that Lei are totally unaware of the snide remarks Xi Men had made. Lei just drink his wine, sip after sip and stared at his glass like there was something very fascinating about it. Ah Si was glaring at Xi Men while Mei Zhuo and Xi Men just kept on laughing at the angry, blushing Ah Si. Shan Chai looked over at Jing and an understanding smile flashed at her. Jing muttered something like 'he'll be okay' silently. Shan Chai nodded and smiled, curious on how Jing understood what she was thinking.  
  
"Jing, this morning we're all shocked to know that this two are actually in a relationship. Can you guess it? Both of them, together? Hey, Lei, you didn't know too, right?" announced Xi Men, pointing to both Ah Si and Shan Chai.  
  
Hearing to the announcement Xi Men has just made, Jing looked over at Lei. A concerned look appeared in her eyes. Lei looked up from his glass, his sight turned towards Xi Men and smiled.  
  
"I know," answered Lei, short, side glancing at Jing, knowing of her stare at him.  
  
"You knew? Ohh.," said Xi Men with a hint of shocked in his voice.  
  
"It's nothing. Really! We're just.," said Shan Chai trying to explain the truth to the others but was cut off by Ah Si.  
  
"Not ready to show it yet."  
  
Shan Chai looked over at Ah Si, disbelieved by what she just heard. Ah Si held her hand and gave a firming gripped. His eyes pleadingly ask Shan Chai to not utter another word. Finally understanding what Ah Si had signaled to her, though not fully understand the reason, Shan Chai gave an acknowledged nod. Ah Si nodded at her and let go of her hand.  
  
"So, what are our plans for tomorrow? Hang out at my house?" asked Ah Si, smiling, swerving the conversation to another direction.  
  
The others just nodded in agreement except for Shan Chai and Lei. Shan Chai straight away told Ah Si that she wanted to stay home to study for the upcoming exams and finishing up her hold up assignments. After a brief arguments between Ah Si and Shan Chai, the victory, as usual was hers. As for Lei, his short answer was as simple and normal to the others that Ah Si just shut up about it. Sleep was the usual answer he'll give to them whenever he wanted to be excuse to do anything with the others. There is just no point in arguing to Lei about his sleep. His 15 hours sleep. They just got used to it by now.  
  
They talked, laughed and drink for another 2 hours before Shan Chai yawned. Wanting to go home first, she asked Lei to send her even though Ah Si gave a little protest but since Shan Chai persist that she wanted Lei to send her and glared at him, he gave in to her request. Since Shan Chai wanted to go home, Jing asked Mei Zhuo to send her home too. So, the two couples left Xi Men and Ah Si together at VS while Mei Zhuo and Lei promised to come back and continue their little get together.  
  
~~~*~~~*~~~  
  
After Lei sent Shan Chai home, he wanted to go back to his too but since he had promised he'll go back to VS and rejoined the others, he changed back his mind. He entered the club and was just about to go to his seat at their previous table when he heard Xi Men asked Ah Si about his relationship with Shan Chai. Lei stood still at the side of the wall, hidden from his two friends and listened to their conversations. Listened intently to Ah Si's answer.  
  
"Tell me the truth Ah Si. What exactly is your relationship with Shan Chai?" asked Xi Men.  
  
"What do you mean?" Ah Si answered back with a question, trying to act clueless about what Xi Men had asked him.  
  
"You and Shan Chai are not lovers. I know, Ah Si. You can't lie to me. I have more experience about love than you. I would take back the bet if you tell me."  
  
"Fine. I'll tell you. She's my sister. Happy? So, I win," proclaimed Ah Si with crossed-arms.  
  
"I knew it! You are just pretending as a couple aren't you? Because of the bet, right? You don't win anything Ah Si! I take back the bet. not announcing you're the winner, master Dao Ming Si. Get that right!"  
  
"What ever."  
  
"So, you don't have any feelings towards her? Because I noticed she has some for someone else," said Xi Men, trying dig up more information from Ah Si.  
  
Taking a sip from his glass, Ah Si sighed.  
  
"I know. It's Lei. She told me tonight. At the bar at the hotel. I think I like her because it hurts every time she's with Lei and whenever she looked at him, I'm jealous. But I gave her my word that I will support her. By the way, my mother has already arranged me with someone else. I'm supposed to agree to it by next month, when I'm back to the States. That's why I'm using Shan Chai. I want my mother to accept Shan Chai as my little sister before I agree to her request. That would delay her plan," explained Ah Si, staring at his glass with a blank look.  
  
"Do you think she'll approve? Don't you think you're getting Shan Chai into trouble with this proposal? Does she knows about it?" asked Xi Men, concerned.  
  
"No, I haven't told her the truth yet. I don't think she'll be in trouble. It's a win-win situation."  
  
"I hope you know what you're doing. This is the empress we're talking about, Ah Si."  
  
Lei had heard enough. He doesn't like the idea of his Shan Chai being used by Ah Si and keeping the real reason for his idea of taking her to the States to meet his mother from herself. He emerged from beside the wall and walked over to Ah Si. Grabbing his shirt, Lei forced him to stand up.  
  
"YOU'RE NOT USING SHAN CHAI FOR YOUR OWN INTEREST! TELL HER THE TRUTH!!"  
  
"Lei, stop! What are you doing?" Xi Men tried to break free the quarrel that would happened.  
  
Letting go off Ah Si's shirt, he stormed out of VS. Leaving Xi Men and Ah Si enraged by the sudden attack from Lei. Everyone in VS was looking over at them. Ah Si screamed at them to mind their own business before he, himself followed suit behind Lei. Xi Men put some money on the table and walked off as well. Xi Men called Mei Zhuo to tell him about the incident that had just happened and asked him to come over as fast as he can. Xi Men has a feeling there will be trouble. No one roughed out Master Dao Ming Si. 


	22. True Friendship

Chapter 22: True Friendship  
  
Ah Si walked after Lei at the sidewalk outside VS with Xi Men not far behind him. Grabbing Lei's shoulder, he turned him around roughly to face him. Seeing what might happen, Xi Men ran to his friend's aid. He doesn't want Lei to be knocked down by Ah Si.  
  
Even though all four of them have second-degree black belts in tae kwon do, with Ah Si's temper and sudden outburst, Lei would have no chance against him. Xi Men quickly pulled Ah Si away from Lei before he could raise his hand and brought his fist to Lei's face. Xi Men's act has staggered Ah Si to the side, quite a distance away from Lei.  
  
Turning his head towards Xi Men, Ah Si shot him an annoyed, dagger sharp look before yelling out, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"  
  
"Lei! Why the hell are you still standing there for? Go away! I don't know how long I can hold on to him!" ordered Xi Men, frantically trying his best retaining the raging, squirming Ah Si.  
  
Lei looked at his two best friend one at a time. First Xi Men, then Ah Si. His void expression intact. Instead of walking away like what Xi Men had told him to do, he did the opposite. He sat down right there on the pavement.  
  
Looking up at the shocked Xi Men and the angry, cursing Ah Si, which was exactly channeled out directly at Xi Men, Lei plainly muttered, "Tell me when you've stop playing."  
  
Due to the shock, Xi Men has loosened his grip a bit and this made Ah Si able to free himself from him. Facing straight at Xi Men and gave out a rough shove, Ah Si shouted, "ARE YOU STUPID? Why did you fucking do that for? Where do you put your brain? At the knee?"  
  
Still looking confused and watching unbelievably at Lei, Xi Men looked over at the red angry dragon in front of him and answered out softly, "Well, I guess I AM stupid."  
  
Xi Men's answer shocked Ah Si. The reply was beyond his expectation thus making his anger subsided in the process. Putting his left hand on Xi Men's right shoulder, he patted him.  
  
"Well", he said, "since you already know that, let me clear up the picture for you. I know you were thinking that I was about to punch up Lei, which I have every intention to do so at the beginning, but..." looking down at Lei, he continued, "confrontation is more appropriate in this case, I guess."  
  
"So, you two finished your little wrestling tournament?" asked Lei, getting up and beat off dirt from his pants.  
  
Just then, running footsteps was heard from behind them. Stopping abruptly beside Xi Men, with a grief stricken tone, Mei Zhuo gave out a cry, "Stop it!"  
  
He quickly grabbed both Ah Si's hands and pulled them to Ah Si's back, holding them tight. Ah Si wailed in pain.  
  
"Not again!" screamed Ah Si, disbelieved.  
  
"Mei Zhuo, let me go! Why do the two of you think I am beating Lei?" continued Ah Si, looking over his shoulder at Mei Zhuo.  
  
Mei Zhuo turned his sight over at Xi Men who was smiling amusingly. He loosened his grip on Ah Si's wrists when Xi Men shook his head, gesturing to him that it was not like what he had thought.  
  
"I guess, watching Lei getting up from the sidewalk and beating off dirt from his pants was a believable sight of him being punched. What really happened, anyway?"  
  
"I sat on the floor," replied Lei, short.  
  
"Why?" asked Mei Zhuo again, curiosity still building up in him, "Why would you sit down on this dirty sidewalk?"  
  
"Waiting for these two to finish their wrestling," another short, unenthusiastic reply from Lei.  
  
Mei Zhuo raised his eyebrow to show he was discombobulated, "Huh?"  
  
Xi Men put his arm around Mei Zhuo's shoulder. Grinning, he patted on Mei Zhuo's chest, ensuring him everything was okay. Ah Si smiled as well, standing beside Lei with his arm crossed, looking at the confused Mei Zhuo. Lei, though his blank expression hasn't changed, the spark in his eyes showed how amused and interested he was at the whole event that took place between his friends.  
  
"Shock as we may, it seems that our Ah Si has all grown up. He already understands that talking is more befitting to settle out disagreement rather than the fist. I have never been so proud; my little brother has finally come of age."  
  
Hearing Xi Men's explanation, Ah Si made a detest face while Mei Zhuo stare in awe at him. Looking back at Xi Men, he smiled knowingly.  
  
"Well, it's about time!" he exclaimed.  
  
"If you are finish making fun of me, I have something private to discuss with Lei. So, please excuse us. See you guys tomorrow. Don't look at me like that! Have some faith in me... even if I do hit him, he'll still be in perfect condition. Lei, let's go!" urged Ah Si, gesturing Lei to follow him, leaving the other two behind.  
  
Seeing both Lei and Ah Si walked away, Mei Zhuo looked over at Xi Men.  
  
"You really think it's okay that we leave them together, alone?" asked Mei Zhuo looking a bit concerned.  
  
Nodding, Xi Men added, "Yeah, I think it would be okay. I just hope they'll be able to settle their little disagreement tonight. I hate to see the both of them in conflict for a long period."  
  
Walking the other way from Ah Si and Lei, Mei Zhuo and Xi Men went back to the direction of VS.  
  
"Mind telling me what the reason of the little misunderstanding was?" asked Mei Zhuo, in hope that he'll managed to clear the confusion he's having.  
  
"Ah Si like Shan Chai, but Shan Chai like Lei and Lei like Shan Chai."  
  
"Shan Chai like Lei? Then, why did she agree to be with Ah Si? How could she? Did she was so afraid of Ah Si that she finally agreed to him, putting away her feelings for Lei behind?" Mei Zhuo asked continuously.  
  
Xi Men smiled, he had left the important information he just knew about a little while earlier. Climbing up the stairs to VS side by side with Mei Zhuo, he answered, trying to control his excitement on telling Mei Zhuo about the relationship between Ah Si and Shan Chai.  
  
"You are going to be shocked! The two are just brother and sister! Can you believe it? He was trying to win the bet by cheating! Our Ah Si... finally have some brains."  
  
"You're kidding!! Really? So, we won the bet? I knew he wouldn't have the chance. He has no talent in them. But you must give credit to him for the act. Shan Chai agreed to him? So, what was the complication in it?" exclaimed Mei Zhuo excitedly.  
  
"We didn't win the bet. I told him we'd take the bet back if he told me the truth. You are not going to believe this. I still don't approve of it too," Xi Men explained, "It seems that the Empress has arranged a marriage proposal for Ah Si and by trying to delay her plans, Ah Si is going to use Shan Chai. He wanted her mother to approve of her as his sister before he agrees to the proposal. And guess what? Shan Chai has no idea about it, at all!"  
  
"No way! How could he do that to her? This would be trouble for her! The Empress is not going to agree to that arrangement. I'm sure of that! Even us, the heirs of the five richest family in Taiwan have a hard time to get approved by her to be Ah Si's friend, and after so many years, I still don't think she approved of us totally," argued Mei Zhuo, disapproving of Ah Si's action plan.  
  
"That is what I told him. And Lei got angry of it too. That was the first time I saw him raised his voice like that and shockingly, it was to Ah Si," agreed Xi Men, seating down at the stool by the bar, beside Mei Zhuo.  
  
"I hope Ah Si know what he's doing. Wait a minute... how did you know Lei like Shan Chai? And vice versa?" Mei Zhuo asked after he ordered a tequila drink to the bartender.  
  
"Huh? Oh... well I kind off saw the two of them walking hand in hand at the beach where we all went about three weeks ago. They looked pretty close to one another, not just as friends."  
  
"When? You spied on them?" asked Mei Zhuo, shocked.  
  
"No! I happened to be at the beach too that night, making a call. The others, including you are already in bed," denied Xi Men, looking offended that Mei Zhuo would accuse of him of something so low as that.  
  
"A call? In the middle of the night? At the beach? Alone? Why?" asked Mei Zhuo suspiciously, eyeing Xi Men warily.  
  
"It's private. Come on, let us have a toast. Wow! That girl is hot! Excuse me and see how the master works his charm," Xi Men changed the topic and walked away towards the girl a few seats from Mei Zhuo, hoping that Mei Zhuo would forget about what he has mistakenly blurted out. 


	23. Truce

Chapter 23: Truce  
  
Together they left towards the Dao Ming's mansion with their respective cars. Upon reaching the main entrance, Ah Si led him in. He quietly followed from the back. His feeling was in a clamber. He doesn't want to accommodate with Ah Si but he wanted to know what does Ah Si had in mind. He was curious. Wondering how Ah Si would calmly have a talk with him after the way he treated Ah Si. It's nothing like Ah Si to want a private heart to heart conversion. One thing for sure, he knew this so-called talk or discussion must have something to do with Shan Chai.  
  
The head butler came to welcomed them. Ah Si ordered him to bring them a pack of beer before dismissing him. Once the butler had gone, Ah Si turned around to face him. That was when he felt the pain in his stomach. Bending down, holding on to his stomach with his left hand, he looked up at Ah Si. His face cringed with pain.  
  
With a serious expression, Ah Si answered his question in mind, "That is for stealing my date away from me and also for that sudden burst in VS!"  
  
Straightening up, he nodded. He understood what made Ah Si did what he did. The truth was, he actually was waiting for it to happen. It would bother him if Ah Si didn't because that would meant Ah Si was not the Ah Si he knew and that would also make him less gentlemen than Ah Si.  
  
He stood there waiting for the next hit but none came. Instead, Ah Si turned around and walked to the living room. Watching Ah Si slump his body at the sofa, he made his way towards the seat opposite of Ah Si. As if by cue, the butler came and placed a six-pack of beer and two glasses on the coffee table between them before he took off. Ah Si opened up a can and shoved it to him. Taking it, he rested his back at the sofa and sipped the beer, watching Ah Si opened up another can of beer for himself.  
  
"I think you already guessed the main topic of this little talk we're going to have," said Ah Si, breaking the silence and at the same time starting their discussion.  
  
Nodding his head, he remained silent. He waited for Ah Si's next words.  
  
"I know you're upset with my decision to use Shan Chai as my shield to setback my mother's plan to arrange me in marriage. It's wrong, yes. But I have no choice. I hope you of all people understand that."  
  
"Ah Si... tell her the truth. She deserves it for the upcoming battle from your mother," he answered back.  
  
"She doesn't have to battle with my mother. She just has to accept Shan Chai and I will follow her arrangement. It's as simple as that! I just want to delay her..."  
  
"Do you think your mother would accept her? Think, Ah Si... this is the most prided and respected woman in Taiwan we're talking about," Lei tried to make Ah Si see the whole picture.  
  
Ah Si kept quiet. A worried look starting to developed on his face. Finally, a recognition. Lei smiled.  
  
'Ah Si has finally got it!' he thought.  
  
Looking down on his shoes, Ah Si spoke, "She wouldn't... She will try her best to get rid of Shan Chai."  
  
For the third time in Ah Si's house, he nodded. He took another sip from his can of beer. Looking straight at Ah Si, he could see Ah Si propped his hand up on his thigh and clasped both his palm on his face. Finally looking up, Ah Si shook his head.  
  
"I can't let Shan Chai go through to all the trouble. I'm going to tell her the truth about the trip to US. But, I don't think I can erase my mother's knowledge about Shan Chai. She already knew. She assigned one of her follower to tail all of us and report back to her all about my doings. I has just found out about it at the show."  
  
Lei sat up. Ah Si's last four sentences shocked him.  
  
"What? She knew? This is bad... We should expect her evil plan soon. Shan Chai must be told about all of this as soon as possible. Tomorrow possibly... She might be in trouble," he worriedly expressed.  
  
"You really care for her, aren't you?" asked Ah Si with apprehend and sad expression.  
  
He wanted to tell his true feelings to Ah Si's face but he didn't know how. His best friend like the same girl. Taking another sip of his beer, he turned his sight to the side, avoiding Ah Si's eyes.  
  
"I love her," he answered shortly and softly.  
  
"I guess I already knew that all along. It's just that I dismissed it away. Knowing that I would not get the girl and that she loves you more than me, aggravated me somehow. I was thinking, if I could let her see the qualities in me maybe she would choose me over you," Ah Si bended and stared down at his shoe with both hands clasped together in front of him.  
  
Finally looking back at Ah Si, he put down his beer on the coffee table. Resting back at the sofa, he said, "You've liked her since that day under the tree, right? The day she threw your flowers on your face."  
  
Ah Si looked up with an astonishing look on his face.  
  
"All of us can't escape from your observation, right? I'm sorry. I took your sudden disappearance for granted and I still failed. She really loves you. But she didn't know how you felt right?" questioned Ah Si.  
  
Not getting any response from Lei, shaking his head, Ah Si continued, "Still the introvert. Let her know or somebody else will come and take her away from you."  
  
Lei let out a small smile.  
  
"I really mean it. She's still my little sister... I don't want her to be unhappy. If I ever catch her in any discontented situation, you're going to be sorry."  
  
"I won't," stated Lei, still smiling at Ah Si, finding it funny to see him so caring about other people than F3.  
  
Ah Si smiled, taking up his can to the air, Lei took his and clicked it with Ah Si's. Finally, the both of them had found a truce.  
  
"By the way, about the bet... it has been cancelled earlier," told Ah Si, matter-of-fact.  
  
"I cancelled ours too then," added Lei and clicked his can again with Ah Si's.  
  
~~~*~~~*~~~  
  
Shan Chai wrote a letter to her parents that morning while eating sweetens bread for breakfast and a cup of Milo. She told her parents about her upcoming exams and her longings to be with her parents on the semester break. Tears crawled down her cheeks. She looked around the house. It was quite. She felt lonely. Her memories of her parents and their funny acts played back inside her mind.  
  
"Stop! I shouldn't feel like this. It's going to be all right... I will meet them soon," Shan Chai spoke out loud, scolding herself for feeling pitiful.  
  
Wiping away the tears, she folded the 2 page letter and put them inside an envelope. Putting stamps on them and wrote the address, she stood up, grabbed her purse and house keys, and walked out of the house to post the letter.  
  
She stopped by the grocery store after mailing the letter to buy some junk food, juices, instant noodles, fruits and vegetables. The food stocks in her house are decreasing. Even though she seldom eats at home, she still wants her refrigerator to have food in them. She was walking back from the grocery shop when an unknown black car with tinted glass swerved by and stopped abruptly next to her.  
  
She yelped in surprise. At first she thought it was one of the guys of F4 trying to scare her off but when the back door opened and two big body build men came out and grabbed her, she screamed her heart out but one of the men put a cloth over her mouth and she passed out. They shoved her inside the car and drove off. 


	24. Missing

Chapter 24: Missing  
  
He shook the front gate frantically when no one answered his call for about the past 5 minutes. Looking around to see if there was anybody around he could ask about the whereabouts of the girl living in that particular house at that precise time was shattered when no one bothered to show any interest in the banging and his shout. Finally, making a drastic and unusual action for his own self, he climbed over the gate and went straight to the main door.  
  
Knocking and calling the girl's name, he still didn't get any response. Walking around the house perimeter, looking through the window glass, the result was still the same. No one was in the house. He took out his phone and dialed the girl's number again for the 30th time. This time, he faintly heard the sound of the ringing tone from inside the house. Hoping that someone would pick it up, his hope dropped when he heard the mailbox machine's voice on the other line, indicating there was no answer.  
  
Trying to keep calm and being positive of the situation, he climbed back out of the house ground and got in his silver BMW. Driving around the housing area, he slowed down when ever he saw any girl walking at the sidewalk to take a peek of them, to see whether she was the girl he was looking for. After making rounds for four times and still no sight of her, he went back to the girl's house. Calling and dialing her phone number again and again for two to three minutes, he began to panicked when the result was the same as previous.  
  
Finally, he dialed another number, "Hello, Ah Si, Shan Chai's missing."  
  
~~~*~~~*~~~  
  
Shan Chai woke up in a black room. Finding that she was in an unfamiliar surroundings, she sat up instantly on the bed. She remembered what had happened to her earlier, before she blacked out. Pulling her legs near to her body until her knees touched her breasts; she scanned her surroundings slowly and cautiously. Seeing there were no other people in the same room as her, she began to relax herself.  
  
Getting off from the bed, she walked slowly to the direction she thought was the window, with her hands spreads out-front to feel her surroundings; just in case there would be any furniture around that she might bumped into. Once she was in front of the window, she grabbed the curtain and slid it to the side. It was indeed the window but it was barred and impossible to try and escape through it. Outside was the color of sunset, red and orange. From the scenery, she knew she was now in a house by the seaside.  
  
'I've been out for the whole day, from morning to night. They must have put chloroform on the cloth they clasped on my mouth and nose. Where am I? Who are they? Why do they capture me?' she questioned herself, unable to understand the reason of the whole incident.  
  
Looking away from the window, she turned around and looked at the room she was kept in. It was quite luxurious. A queen size bed, side table and a table lamp, a cupboard and makeup table equipped with comb, powder, mirror and other small things she can't really recognized from the distance. With little light left coming in from the window, she searched for the light switch. She found it at the left side of the window. Switching it on, she gasped.  
  
The room was actually luxurious indeed. The walls were hand painted of the scenery of sakura trees during spring, bloomed with their pink colored flowers. In addition, the ceilings were painted the color of the night sky, full with stars. If she was kidnapped, why does she was put inside this beautiful room. Sitting back on the bed, she can't help to adore the interior of the room. That was when she realized there was a camera at the corner ceiling of the room, opposite the bed, a 14-inch television beside the makeup table and another door at its side. The other one was at the side of the bed, which obviously to her was the entrance door since it was locked.  
  
Walking to the direction of the door, she opened it and inside, it was the most beautiful bathroom she had ever seen. The tiles were light blue and there was also a bath tab and shower. The bathroom, like the room, was equipped with all the things she will need, shampoo, soap, shower gel and others. However, there were no windows in it and gladly, there was no camera as well. Going back to the room and close the bathroom door behind her, she switched on the television and sat on the bed.  
  
Her stomach growled. She was hungry. Looking at the camera, she sat up, walked towards it and stood still. In her mind, she battled whether she should speak out she was hungry or make gestures. Finally, she decided to do both. Saying out loud and making eating gesture, she asked for food, politely.  
  
They understood her when not long after that, there was a knock on her door and it opened up with one of the big man she saw came out of the car that morning, holding on to a tray. Looking up at the man, she took the tray and before she could ask anything, he shut the door and locked it again.  
  
Sighing, she placed the tray on the bed. Sitting down, she opened it up and saw a bowl of rice with cooked vegetables, chicken and tofu together with a glass of juice and a plate of cut fruits. Looking up again at the camera, she said thank you before picking up the chopstick and started to eat.  
  
~~~*~~~*~~~  
  
In the living room at Ah Si's mansion, sat four guys on the sofa looking very glum and spaced out from reality as if thinking something important very hard. The place was in total silence even if a needle were dropped would clearly be heard.  
  
"I can't stand this anymore! We should be doing something!!" cried out Xi Men, depressed by the current situation they are having.  
  
He looked over at Xi Men. He understood how Xi Men felt because that was exactly how he really felt. He doesn't want to sit there doing nothing. He wanted to find his beloved Shan Chai. In his heart, he was hoping nothing bad had happened to her. He hadn't told her yet how he really felt about Shan Chai. How he really loves her and can't live without her. After so long searching for the one to love him and for him to love, he doesn't want to give it all up just yet without knowing how Shan Chai's reaction towards his love.  
  
"Xi Men's right! This is killing me... what are waiting for anyway? It's already night. She has been gone for the whole day. Let's go and find her, man," agreed Mei Zhuo, looking at Ah Si, Xi Men and also at him.  
  
Ah Si looked over at Lei. He was worried and annoyed at his two friend's remarks. Lei understood Ah Si's look.  
  
'He cared for her but he can't do anything for now. He can't just call his mother and ask about Shan Chai... This waiting is eating him inside as well,' thought Lei.  
  
"You still haven't heard from the private investigator?" asked Lei, looking at Ah Si trying to lessen the tension.  
  
Xi Men and Mei Zhuo looked over at Lei, shocked to hear him speak after being silent for the whole day and also because of the words that came out from his mouth. They both looked back at Ah Si.  
  
"You've hired a private investigator? Still no news? That is why we stayed here and wait? Well... I just can't wait anymore. I'm going to search for her," Xi Men proclaimed, standing up.  
  
"I'm going with you! Where could she be?" said Mei Zhuo, standing up as well.  
  
"Where are you two going to find her? Tell me?!" shouted Ah Si, looking very annoyed and displeased with the two.  
  
"We don't know. Probably the hospital, the streets... as long as we're out there and searching for her is enough for us."  
  
"She's not at the hospital. She's not anywhere on the streets either. Please sit down... and wait," Ah Si demanded out loud, impatient with Xi Men and Mei Zhuo.  
  
The both of them looked at each other. Their expression was readable. They were curious on how Ah Si could know that Shan Chai was nowhere around the streets of Taipei and in the hospital. They turned to look at Lei but he just looked at them with a blank expression, not interested to answer any of Mei Zhuo and Xi Men's questions.  
  
Sitting back down on their seats, Xi Men blurted out what was playing in his mind, "You know something, right? Ah Si, what is it? How did you know we won't find her at those places?"  
  
Ah Si, looking at Lei and then back to Xi Men and Mei Zhuo, finally let out his suspicion, "I think it has something to do with my mother."  
  
"With your mother? What is this all about?" exclaimed Mei Zhuo, looking lost and surprised.  
  
Leaning his back on the seat and sighed, Xi Men closed his eyes before he spoke next, "This fast? So, what should we do then?"  
  
"What? WHAT?!" Mei Zhuo shouted, feeling very annoyed when no one answered his question or explain to him what was going on.  
  
Xi Men looked over at Mei Zhuo, "Remember that I told you Ah Si's mother has arranged Ah Si's marriage and he was using Shan Chai as his delay? Well, these two suspect Shan Chai's disappearance has something to do with the Empress's doing."  
  
Mei Zhuo slumped in his seat, "Oh boy! This is getting harder. So, what should we do?"  
  
"I'm thinking of calling Zhuang and my mother. So, I'm waiting for the right time to do so. I don't want them, especially my mother to suspect that we had suspected this has something to do with her. Things might get worse."  
  
The other three just nodded and sighed. 


	25. Is It True?

Chapter 25: Is It True?  
  
A ringing tone startled the four of them. Ah Si took out his mobile phone and answered it. Xi Men, Mei Zhuo and Lei anxiously looked at him, waiting to know the result from the call.  
  
Their hopes shattered when, "Stupid! How can you not find her? If you don't find her whereabouts in another hour, you're not going to find anymore jobs here in Taiwan. I promise you that! Go now!!"  
  
Giving out a loud, frustrating sigh, Ah Si slumped his back again to the back of the sofa. Looking at his three best friends, he shook his head.  
  
"They didn't found her. They don't even have a clue where she has been taken to or who was behind her sudden disappearance. I think it's time to confront with her," told Ah Si in a very disturbing and angry tone, expressing clearly on the word 'her'.  
  
Lei looked directly at Ah Si before speaking out his mind, "Not yet. Call Zhuang first."  
  
"That's right! Call Zhuang first. Maybe she knows something and could help us against your mother," agreed Mei Zhuo straight away.  
  
Ah Si, turned his sight to Xi Men, in a way of asking his own opinion on the matter. Xi Men nodded his head, agreeing with the other two, Mei Zhuo and Lei's opinion. Having all his friends consent, he took his mobile phone from the table and dialed Zhuang's number.  
  
"Hello, Jie? How are you? Are you busy?" said Ah Si, opening a conversation.  
  
"There's nothing wrong! I am not in trouble! Why do you always assume that I'm in trouble?!" argued Ah Si on the phone with her sister, as always.  
  
Mei Zhuo smirked, looking over at Lei, "This is going to take some time. You want a beer?"  
  
Lei nodded and watched Mei Zhuo got up and went to the kitchen to get three more cold beers, adding to the mount of beer cans on the table. Taking the handed out beer can from Mei Zhuo's hand, he looked back at Ah Si, who was still arguing and making faces on the phone.  
  
Lei knocked his can to Ah Si's knee, "Get to the point," he said, flatly.  
  
Ah Si glared at Lei for disturbing him and reminding what he should be doing instead of what he was doing just then, before finally he nodded and started to speak seriously about the real matter.  
  
"Jie, I need to know something from you. Did you, by any chance hear or know anything about mother's new corrupted, wicked plan to ruin my life?" Ah Si asked, matter-of-factly and not to mention a bit rude.  
  
Xi Men and Mei Zhuo just smiled at Ah Si's final remarks. If it was his mother, he wouldn't dare to say anything like that and if they guessed correctly, Ah Si would be arguing again with her sister about that same remark. Lei were a bit disappointed with Ah Si's little snide remarks and playfulness. He hurriedly got over to grab the phone from Ah Si. He was anxious to know about the condition of his love one and he was beginning to feel impatient with the dragging delay. Seeing Lei's sudden move, Ah Si held on tight to the phone and gestured for Lei to sit down.  
  
"Jie, the truth is that, my friend or directly, my pet- sister was kidnapped this morning and I have a feeling mother was a part of this."  
  
"Well, how did I know she was going to do that to her! I was just trying to delay the wedding!! We are not more than just like you and me! So, do you or don't you know anything about it?!"  
  
"You have no idea? Well? What should we do? We can't just wait around for something to come up!! I'm going to call her and asked her directly to free Shan Chai! Yes, that's her name!!"  
  
"What? You are coming over here? What for? I am not going to do anything stupid! Why do you always think I would spoil everything! I'm not a kid anymore!!!"  
  
The bickering goes on and on. The three heard enough to know that Zhuang has no idea what was exactly going on. Drinking their can of beer, all were looking down and frustrated. They don't know what to do next. Where should they start to look for her?  
  
Out of nowhere, a ringing tone was heard and Xi Men quickly took out his phone from his back pocket. Looking at the screen, he got up, "I need to get this call," he said before walking away from all of them.  
  
With Ah Si still battering on the phone with his sister, Mei Zhuo looked at Xi Men with full interest. Leaning close to Lei, he whispered, "Who do you think call him? He never walked away from us before when he received a call."  
  
Mei Zhuo's questioned made his curiosity build up. Looking over at Xi Men also, he began to wonder. True, never once Ken acted that way when he received a call, especially not when it's from his Mei Mei's. From the distance, it seems that Xi Men was trying to comfort the person on the other line. Wonder who would it be?  
  
Finally ending the line with his sister, Ah Si took his can of beer and opened it before taking a big gulp from it.  
  
"Zhuang's coming over. She told us to wait for her before doing anything stupid. Huh! Like we are so dumb and do something like that! Hey, did you hear me? What are you two whispering about? Where's Xi Men?" asked Ah Si, curious with his two friend's act.  
  
Mei Zhuo just pointed over to where Xi Men were standing and gestured Ah Si to gather close to him.  
  
"Remember the night we thought you're going to fight with Lei? And we left you together to discuss your problems? Well, Xi Men and me went back to VS. He told me that you were using Shan Chai as your shield to postponed the wedding and how he felt that Shan Chai have a feeling for somebody else," Mei Zhuo started, retelling back the incident that happen just last night.  
  
Taking a breath, he continued, "That's old news, I know. Well, here's the juicy part. Xi Men accidentally told me that he was on the phone with someone at the beach, in the middle of the night when most of us has retreated to our rooms. Do you think that, that person on the other line was the same person from that night? I wonder who? What do you two think?"  
  
"Probably one of he's new girlfriends. What's so interesting about that?" grunted Ah Si, not as curious and as excited as Mei Zhuo.  
  
"Lei?" asked Mei Zhuo.  
  
"It's not one of his Mei Mei's. The way he looked, I believed it was someone he really cared about."  
  
"You don't think he has finally fallen in love? I saw him flirting with other girls just last night," Mei Zhuo added, not believing Lei's little theory.  
  
They were about to discussed it more when finally Xi Men hanged up the mobile phone, putting it back in his back pocket and walked over to them, stopping their small discussion.  
  
"So, what did Zhuang say?" asked Xi Men, looking at Ah Si and sat beside him after taking his beer from the coffee table.  
  
Mei Zhuo adjusted his sitting posture and looked at Xi Men teasingly. Before Ah Si could answer Xi Men's question, he budged in, "Who called?"  
  
"Huh? Ohh... it's a friend. Just needed my advice, that's all. No biggie," answered Xi Men plainly and with a straight face.  
  
Glaring over at Mei Zhuo for interrupting his answer, Ah Si looked back at Xi Men, "Zhuang have no idea whose hand was behind all this but she wanted us the wait for her arrival before making any action."  
  
Nodding, Xi Men agreed, "Yeah, I think that would be the best. Well, since we're wouldn't be able to do anything for now, I'm going back home. See you guys tomorrow. Ah Si, call me if you receive any news from the investigator or Zhuang. Bye guys..."  
  
"Yeah, I'm going to. Xi Men, give me a ride home will, ya? I think it's a bit too late to call for the driver. Lei, are you coming?"  
  
Standing up, Lei looked at Ah Si, "Call me," he said before walking out through the main door of Ah Si's mansion, sulking and obviously still worried of Shan Chai's safety.  
  
~~~*~~~*~~~  
  
Shan Chai stared in the dark. She was thinking how she could escape from the room. Eyeing the camera and considering whether they would see her in the dark, she carefully crept out from the bed and slowly made her move, creeping to the door. Using the hair pin Lei had given her, she tried to unlock the door knob from what she sees in the television spy shows.  
  
She was busy prodding and turning the doorknob when she received the fright of her life. The door opened! Not because she succeeded from using the hairpin but it was because the door was opened from the outside. The bodyguard from before was staring down at her with a fierce face.  
  
Standing up, she acted as if nothing had happened and walked away back slowly to the bed, with her eye still stealing glances on the big build man by the door. But as the bodyguard was about to close the door, she ran and pushed herself through the startled man. She was about to feel the freedom when a pair of unexpected hands grabbed her from behind.  
  
"LET ME GO!!" she screamed, wearing her lungs out, repeatedly.  
  
Kicking, struggling and screaming to free herself, she was exhausted when the grip got even tighter. Finally, she gave up and relaxed. Glancing over her head, she saw that the person that caught her was the other bodyguard. Sighing, she bared herself to be lifted and carried back to her room.  
  
Without any word coming out from the two bodyguards, the door was again closed and locked.  
  
'They'll surely tighten up the security after this. How on earth could I get away from this place? Does anyone notice that I'm gone? Why do they do this to me? Oh, Lei... please help... ' 


	26. Zhuang's News

Chapter 26: Zhuang's News  
  
He didn't felt like going straight home just as he had told Ah Si. There are a lot in his mind. Not knowing where his love was or the reason of her sudden disappearance was just too much of a burden for him to just sleep it over.  
  
Driving around town slowly, eyeing each alley, side corners and the streets, he hoped he'd bound to found Shan Chai smiling happily, safe and sound there. But, no matter how high his hopes are, he knew deep down, the chances of what he wished would happen were like finding a needle in a haystack. Sighing, he kept on driving.  
  
Without knowing where he had driven to, he turned up by the seashore. About one hour an a half drive from the main town. Finally aware of the tiredness his body and mind felt, he stopped by the roadside and got out of the car. It was late and no other transportation was on the road.  
  
Climbing over the road divider, he walked towards the sea. Sitting down on the white, flaky sand, he looked over towards the open dark water with the bright moon shining above him as the lime light. The view made him remembered the time he was alone with Shan Chai at the seaside, where they watched the meteor falling down to earth.  
  
'Shan Chai, I wish at that time I have told you the true meaning of the direction of the falling meteor. Then, it wouldn't be a secret anymore...you'd know how I really felt towards you. And I would not felt the regret I am feeling now...Shan Chai, I love you.'  
  
The girl stood still, waiting for her ride at the side of the park. Though it has been a very familiar view seeing her there, but that day was a bit different. The girl was not anxiously excited waiting for her normal ride, instead she looked solemn and out of space until she didn't seemed to notice the grey BMW approaching. When the car stopped right in front of her made her snapped back to reality. Opening the passenger's door, she slipped in slowly. Once inside, looking over at the man sitting beside her, she put up a smile for him. Leaning forward towards her, the man put both his hands on her cheek and gently planted a soft, subtle kiss on her forehead. Seeing her finally smiled and flushed, he looked forward and drove off. Driving around with no particular aim, they sat in silence until finally he broke it with a simple yet concerned word, "Don't worry. She'll be fine." Nodding her head gently, she looked over at him, "I know she is. Because I know you'll try your best to find her. I have faith in you...and the rest of F4," answered her. Taking her hand in his, he glanced over at her and gave her an assuring smile, with a squeeze of her hand. It was ten minutes past ten o'clock when the three of them reached over the Dao Ming's mansion, rushing over exactly after they all received a phone call from Ah Si, telling them that Zhuang has finally arrived. Sitting down on the sofas, each one looked excited and anxious to see Zhuang and hear her opinion on the case. Eyeing one another, they waited for Zhuang to come down from her room. Each one was feeling uneasy with the silence that fell on the room. Not knowing what else to do, Mei Zhuo took a magazine from the table and read it, unaware that it was upside down. Xi Men looked at her friend with curiosity. "Hey, Mei Zhuo. I didn't know that you could read upside down! Hahahahaha...."  
  
"Huh?" surprised Mei Zhuo, looking away from the magazine and towards Xi Men. Xi Men kept on laughing and pointing at the magazine with Lei and Ah Si questioningly looking at Xi Men and Mei Zhuo, back and forth. "What was so funny?" a voice heard from above the stairs. All four looked over towards the stairs and Xi Men's laughter died down, leaving a big grin still pasted on his face. "Nothing...it's just that, Mei Zhuo here have a talent that I didn't know. He could read upside down. Look at the magazine in his hand," explained Xi Men, still pointing at the magazine. "I wasn't reading it... I was looking at this sexy, pretty, upside down girl. Next time...don't jumped into conclusion," answered Mei Zhuo, stucking his tongue out at Xi Men, showing the poster he was looking at. "Okay, okay, calm down. Mei Zhuo, Xi Men, Lei...it has been so long. All of you have grown so much...and taller too. But still, Mei Zhuo, Xi Men...you two are still a playboy and a pervert like when you are young," Zhuang greeted all of them with a smile. "Lei, how are you? How was Jing?" asked Zhuang again, looking at Lei. "You should ask her boyfriend...Mei Zhuo." With a shocked face, she looked over at the grinning Mei Zhuo, "You?" "Yes. We're still new. I'm surprised Jing hadn't told you about us. By the way, she sent her regards to you. She's at France right now, having a fashion show like always." "You better take good care of my best friend! Don't be like my stupid brother..." "Hey! Why do you have to drag me into the conversation? What do I do wrong?" argued Ah Si, looking displeased with his sister. "You are the one who started this whole problem! If you did not use Shan Chai as a tool to delay the wedding... this wouldn't have happened! Stupid!" "Stop calling me stupid! How'd I know this would happen?" barked Ah Si at his sister, standing up and glared at Zhuang. "That's the problem with you! You never think!! Now, sit!" commanded Zhuang. Folding his hands, Ah Si grumpily sat back in his seat. Looking to the side, avoiding his sister's deadly stare he grumbled slowly to himself. Seeing her brother acted like a dissatisfied child, Zhuang smiled a little before continuing in a serious tone. "Before I came back here, I've been asking around the roundabouts of my mother. And what shocked me was no one knew where she is. Not even her secretary. It seems that she has been gone for a couple of days. Exactly a day before you guys called me," explained Zhuang, looking intensively at the faces in front of her. Hearing what his sister has just told them, Ah Si turned his head back towards Zhuang, "WHAT?" he exclaimed. Zhuang glared at her brother. She doesn't like to be snapped of like that, especially by her own little brother. Seeing his sister gave him the deadly glare, he shut his mouth and looked down. His friends just smiled at his childish act. Finally looking away from her brother, she continued, "I'm not sure whether she have anything to do with Shan Chai's disappearance but I think this is what we should do for now. Mei Zhuo and Xi Men, you go around Ying De and asked any of her friends or classmates if Shan Chai has told them anything about her whereabouts. Lei, you go and looked around town and distant places like the hotels, resorts and even warehouses. Try to find out if there are any rich, new strangers went there." Looking at Ah Si, she said strictly, "And you... you and I are going to all the Dao Ming's properties. We're going to find out where she stayed." "Why must I go with you?" Going straight to her brother, she grabbed his shirt and forced him to stand up. "You were saying?" "Fine, I'll go with you. Huh!" Standing by the window, looking out the sea, she recalled back her thought of last night, 'I have a feeling that car was Lei's. I don't know why, but the sound of that car stopping by the roadside and woke me up...it's just seemed to be him. But could it really be? If it was him, why didn't he try to contact me? Maybe it's just my imagination. I hoped to high to be rescued by him that I started to imagine it was him. Wake up Shan Chai...it's already the third day... nobody knows where I am...nobody is going to find me...'  
  
Wiping a tear that dropped on her cheek, she was startled when the door opened suddenly. The two bodyguards came in and commanded her to follow them. Taking a last look at the ocean, she walked between the two. They took her into a room that looked like a study room at the edge of the aisle, about five rooms apart from hers. A chair was set up at the middle of the room where the first guard had told to sit before leaving her alone and closed the door behind them. Looking around the room, she noticed that the room also consist of a camera, eyeing her every move. She sat on the chair and looked directly to a large mirror opposite her. 'This is just like the mirror in the interrogation room I saw in one of those police dramas. But... it can't be.' While she was looking at the room, the door reopened. This time a lady came in instead. The lady was dressed in a business-like suit, a straight face and sophisticated look. She walked around her, eyeing every inch of her body and face, up and down. Her reaction disturbed her. She doesn't like being watched and eyed at like that. It's like the lady was grading her. She had had enough of it when she asked in an annoyed tone, "Who are you?", coincidently, at the exact time as the lady. 


	27. Is That Her?

Chapter 27: Is That Her?  
  
"My name is Shan Chai. Why do you kidnapped me and keep me in this house? Who are you? What do you want?" asked Shan Chai, trying to control herself from raising her voice to the lady in the suit.  
  
Looking straight at her, in a very firm and serious tone the lady asked, "How do you know my son? Who are you to him?", ignoring Shan Chai's questions.  
  
She blanked. 'Her son? Who is her son?' the question popped up in her mind.  
  
"Who are you? And who's your son? I have no idea what you're talking about!" screamed Shan Chai, her anger building up. She doesn't like being accused of something that she has no idea what it is all about.  
  
Still standing straight in a proud and egoistic manner, the lady made a disgusted look towards her before voicing out, "Does Dao Ming Si rings a bell?"  
  
'Dao Ming Si? This lady is his mother? I don't understand...'  
  
Seeing her surprised look and silence, Dao Ming Si's mother smirked before continuing, "Surprised? Now, tell me what's your relationship with my son?"  
  
"Relationship? What do you mean? He's my friend and brother. I don't want to be his little sister or even his friend at the first place, but he insisted. He even wanted to take me over to US and introduce us both. Why are you doing this to me? I don't understand. What have I done to offend you and deceiving this? Let me go!" argued Shan Chai, standing up and came face to face with Dao Ming Si's mother.  
  
Giving a killer stare at Shan Chai, the lady turned around and walked off towards the door, closing them behind her, leaving Shan Chai alone again in the room, screaming, "LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!"  
  
She was not alone long. A few minutes after sitting down the same chair, the two guards came in and grabbed her by the arm, forcing her to get up and walked out of the room. She was then locked again inside her room. After a few tantrums of screaming at the camera, she lay on the bed, staring at the camera on the ceiling before she closed her eyes and fell asleep.  
  
Late evening, about six, Xi Men and Mei Zhuo came back to Ah Si's mansion, tired and exhausted after a long ride and asking around about Shan Chai's whereabouts. They flopped on the sofa and closed their eyes. However, Xi Men felt a sudden slight of uneasiness, as if they were being watched. Opening his eyes lazily, he was shocked to find a girl sitting at the sofa next to them, looking suspiciously and uncomfortably at the both of them. Quickly sitting up straight, Xi Men gave her his sweet smile and nudged Mei Zhuo by his side.  
  
"Oww... cut it out Xi Men. I'm tired. Let me rest, will ya!" grumbled Mei Zhuo without bothering to open his eyes.  
  
Nodding to the girl in an apologetic gesture, Xi Men leaned close to Mei Zhuo's ear and whispered something to him that made him opened his eyes in an instant, gazing straight at the girl.  
  
"Hello..." Mei Zhuo broke the silence, standing and walking cheerily towards the girl, leaving Xi Men behind, shaking his head.  
  
Instead of answering, the girl chose to pick up her magazine and continue on reading, ignoring the cheerful Mei Zhuo who sat beside her.  
  
Blown out of the water by the reaction he received from the mysterious short hair girl, Mei Zhuo gave a questioning look at Xi Men but instead he only received a shrug from his best friend. Not giving up, he tried again to get her attention. Leaning closer, he greeted her again, "Hello sweet darling. Mind telling me who you are and why you're at our friend's house?"  
  
Putting down her magazine on her lap, she glanced over at the smiling, playful Mei Zhuo. Finally letting out a smile on her face, she looked over at Xi Men, nodding to him and said, "You must be Zhang Er Xi Men and," facing Mei Zhuo back again, she continued, "you are Ling Mei Zhuo. The two playboys in F4. Am I correct?"  
  
Xi Men and Mei Zhuo exchanged looks. Both have the same questions in mind, 'Who is this girl? How did she know about them and F4?', but both shrugged. They have no answer to their own questions.  
  
Clearing his throat, Xi Men finally asked their questions out loud to the girl, "How did you know about us and F4? Who are you?"  
  
Still smiling, she gave them her answer, "He didn't tell you? I'm Dao Ming Si's fiancé."  
  
"Ooo... you're the one. He never told us that you're such a babe. Wonder why he wanted to delay the wedding," Mei Zhuo blurted out accidentally that got him a deadly stare from Xi Men.  
  
"Mei Zhuo got it all wrong. Ah Si did not want to delay the wedding. It's just that he wanted to finish his study first at Ying De," covered up Xi Men.  
  
The girl just shook her head and laughed. "You don't have to back him up. I knew about his plan to delay the wedding. I'm not ready either. That is why I am here. I'm thinking of discussing with him what our plan should be to delay it at least for another year. I want to enjoy my single hood as long as I can. So, where is he?" she inquired, looking around.  
  
"Whew... I thought I blew it," suspired Mei Zhuo gladly, with a silly smile planted on his face.  
  
Glancing at his watch, Xi Men answered, "He would be coming back soon with his sister. They have some errands to do. So, what's your name?"  
  
Suspicion showed on her face, "Zhuang's here too? What's going on? Is there any trouble?"  
  
"It's nothing, really. For the hundredth time, mine telling us your name? It would be awkward if we keep referring you as Ah Si's fiancé," asked Mei Zhuo, avoiding her questions. He doesn't really trust her to tell the real truth about Shan Chai's disappearance and their suspicion on the 'Empress'.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Xiao Zi. Well, I'm hungry. You guys want to dine here? I'll ask the chef to cook us something."  
  
"You've read our mind. We're famished. It's been a long day. Thanks," thanked Xi Men.  
  
Mei Zhuo sat back at his previous seat, beside Xi Men, after she left to call up the head butler. Whispering to Xi Men, "I don't trust her. Maybe she's the Empress's spy."  
  
Nodding, Xi Men replied, "Me too. But she sure has a beautiful body."  
  
"That's true...a real beauty..." agreed Mei Zhuo, eyeing Xiao Zi from afar.  
  
"Hey! You better not check her out like that! I'll tell Jing...you'll get in trouble," teased Xi Men with Mei Zhuo smiling, playfully putting up both his hands, surrendering.  
  
"Just wait when Ah Si comes back and see her here," said Xi Men, followed by Mei Zhuo's little giggle.  
  
"See who?" a voice suddenly heard from behind them.  
  
Looking back, they saw grumpy Ah Si with his hands folded, sulking behind his sister.  
  
"Zhuang... welcome back."  
  
"Xiao Zi? You're here?" asked Zhuang, shocked to see Xiao Zi walking towards her from the direction of the kitchen.  
  
"YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" squalled Ah Si, with his eyes bulging out and his mouth opened.  
  
After giving a light hug and a cheek-to-cheek peck with Zhuang, Xiao Zi walked over towards Ah Si, smiling.  
  
"Is that how you greet your fiancé?"  
  
Giving a loud snort, Ah Si stomped off up the stairs and into his room, ignoring everyone else including his sister's calling.  
  
"Xiao Zi. I'll teach him a lesson later for you. Go and get some rest, all of you. I'll tell you all about what had happened after dinner. See you guys later," excused Zhuang, leaving the confused Xiao Zi behind, who then turned to face Mei Zhuo and Xi Men for answers. The only thing that she received was a smile and a shrug. Giving up, she followed Zhuang's footsteps up the stairs and headed towards her room.  
  
He was tired and frustrated. He had been driving around town with every alleys, every roads, every hotels, clinics, hospitals has been gone through by him and his own private detectives. But it all came to no avail. Shan Chai was still no where to be found. Not even a trace. He remembered about the seaside he has been to the previous night and decided to go over there again, to calm himself.  
  
Parking his car at the side of the road this time, he went to the same spot. Sitting down, he opened his shoes and played with the wet sands with his bared feet. The tides are coming but he stayed still on the sand, now and then splashed by the sea water. His eyes never moved the sunset beneath the horizon. Somehow, the scenery gave him the strength and confidence that he needed to find his beloved Shan Chai. Finally he was himself again, the calmed and relaxed Hua Zhe Lei. He wanted to be calm for his friends so that they would formed a better plan to find Shan Chai.  
  
It was getting dark when he finally decided to get back to Ah Si's mansion. Heading back to his car, he looked up and saw a big bungalow situated opposite of his parked car. There are guards all around it, but no cars could be seen.  
  
'Why does an empty house have so many guards patrolling in it? It's weird. But, what do I care.'  
  
Ignoring the house, he opened his car door and was about to slid inside when he coincidently looked again over the house. There was light from within one of the rooms. That was when he saw a girl standing near the window, looking towards the sea.  
  
'Is that... her?' 


	28. The Deal

Chapter 28: The Deal  
  
Eyeing cautiously over to the guards at the main gate, he moved to a closer and strategic spot to get a clearer view of the window but to his disappointment, the girl was no longer there. Staring at the empty window, he was certain that the girl he saw was his beloved Shan Chai. He could recognize her body shape no matter from what angle.  
  
"HEY! THIS IS A PRIVATE PROPERTY! GO AWAY!" the guard yelled from afar.  
  
Not wanting to get in trouble and risk of her being transferred to some other places, making it back to square one, furthermore slipping away a good chance to rescue Shan Chai, he just gave a slight nod, went back to his car and drove off, glancing at the window again for the last time.  
  
'Hang in there Shan Chai. We'll save you...I'll save you.'  
  
All of them were sitting at the living room, with Mei Zhuo and Xi Men sitting at the middle sofa whispering with each other and eyeing the angry, folded arms Ah Si, who was glaring at the sweet, smiling girl opposite of him which happened to be his own fiancé. Meanwhile, Zhuang was sitting next to the girl, ignoring the whole situation and sipping her drink of wine from her long, slender glass.  
  
Putting down her glass, she finally opened her mouth and broke the silence. "Mei Zhuo, Xi Men. Did you find anything about Shan Chai?"  
  
Shocking the duo from their mischievous grin, both exchanged looks, wondering who should be the one to break the bad news to Zhuang. Mei Zhuo, eyeing suspiciously at Xiao Zi, he said, "Zhuang Jie, you really think it's okay to discuss the matter here?"  
  
Following Mei Zhuo's gaze, Zhuang smiled. "Xiao Zi's okay. I'm positive she's not part of 'her' associates. But, I think it's best if I summed everything up for her first."  
  
Facing Xiao Zi, Zhuang could see that she was already curious with the conversation that has taken part so far. Looking questionably at Zhuang, she asked, "Jie, something happened right? What's going on?"  
  
Before Zhuang could answer her question, she was interrupted by a screech sound from outside, the running footsteps and the sudden outburst, "I SAW HER!"  
  
He stopped in his track. He saw a strange, unfamiliar face, while the others was looking straight at him, curious and shock shown on each one of their faces. Lei knew why they reacted that way. It was obvious that he had knocked their socks off with his sudden outburst. He never did that before. Usually he'd be the cool and ignorant one, seldom shows any reaction or feelings. He was shocked himself but he was more shocked to found the mysterious girl sitting next to Zhuang. 'Who is she? A spy?'  
  
"Where? Lei! Hey, LEI!" yelled Ah Si, standing to face Lei, irritated with Lei's stoniness towards his question.  
  
Looking away from the girl, he was in his usual blank expression. Walking slowly and calmly towards the others, he kept catching some glances at the new face. He was unsure whether it was safe for him to tell about his founding. Sitting at the sofa's armrest, where Mei Zhuo and Xi Men seated. He kept his silence. Ah Si was at the top of his patience. He was about to lunged himself over Lei, when her sister stopped him.  
  
"Ah Si, sit! It's okay Lei. This is Xiao Zi, Ah Si's fiancé. She can be trusted."  
  
Gazing sideways to the girl, he nodded to her before finally opening his mouth, "I saw her at the bungalow opposite the ocean. An hour and a half drives from here, south. Guards everywhere."  
  
"Who? What's going on? Someone please tell me," forced Xiao Zi, lost within the conversation.  
  
"SHUT UP! This is all your fault!" yelled Ah Si at her face.  
  
Zhuang gave her brother a deadly look. "Stop accusing other people! If it wasn't because of you using Shan Chai as your bait to delay the wedding, she won't be kidnapped!" Looking at Xiao Zi, Zhuang at long last gave her the explanation she demanded.  
  
"Your stupid fiancé here, wanted to delay the wedding and he used his friend, Shan Chai, to act as his girlfriend, to force mother to accept her rather than you. After so many years, he still can't understand how mother thinks."  
  
Gazing back at Ah Si, "Ah Si, it's us that have to follow her commands, not the other way around! Use your brain!!"  
  
Ah Si grimly stared at his sister. To fight back, he knew he can't win so the only thing that he could do was clenched his fist and stare back at his sister. Cursing her inside his heart but Zhuang seemed to understand Ah Si, "Stop arguing back and cursing me in your empty head if you know what's good for you."  
  
Turning his head to the opposite side, Ah Si gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. At this point, F3 could see that he was very angry with his sister. And as always, they know the best way to deal with it was kept quiet and hope he would calmed down faster on his own.  
  
"Jie, don't blame him anymore. It's not his fault that things turned out the other way around."  
  
All three of them instantly turned their heads to the voice, surprised by the sudden backed up from a girl they barely knew. Even Ah Si seemed to simmer down and with a huffed he sat down back on his seat.  
  
"I don't need you to back me up, stupid girl," he spoke steadily, anger subsided in his tone.  
  
His remark made the others gave out a slight smile. It's a rare view to see Ah Si calming down from one of his temper blows with just an effect of a girl. And the irony was that the girl was someone he wanted to avoid marrying to.  
  
"Okay, now that's over and everyone already knows the whole story, let's think of a way to get Shan Chai out of that house. Out of curiosity, Ah Si, did you go over there and check it out?" asked Xi Men, getting back to their main topic.  
  
Looking over at Zhuang, one could see his eyes were full of questions and unsure ness. Zhuang looked back at him and nodded before facing her sight to the others, "We don't have any that situated opposite the ocean in the south. Not that we know off."  
  
"All of you don't have to do anything!"  
  
The voice shocked everyone in the living room. Not only because of its sudden utterance but because of the voice that represent its owner. It was Dao Ming Si's mother's, Dao Ming Feng. Out of nowhere, she was already standing at the end of the bottom stairs with her arms folded and her expression straight and strict.  
  
"She will be released, if and only if you follow my rules," Dao Ming Feng continued, her expression unchanged.  
  
Ah Si stood up and glared at his mother, "YOU ARE BEHIND THIS?"  
  
"Ah Si, is that the way you speak to your mother? Now, do you want her to be released or not?"  
  
"Auntie, why do you do all this? There is no need for you to kidnap her," asked Mei Zhuo, unsatisfied.  
  
"Mr. Ling Mei Zhuo, you have no right to talk back to me."  
  
Lei were anxious and felt agitated with the whole situation. He wanted his Shan Chai to be released and he would do anything to make sure of it. "What do you want us to do?"  
  
Though she was a bit shocked to hear Hua Zhe Lei spoke out especially with a firm tone, Dao Ming Feng covered it with, "Good question Mr. Hua Zhe Lei. But this condition only involves the participation of my son and fiancé. You two are to be married in 6 months time if your precious peasant friend were to be released. Ah Si, Xiao Zi?"  
  
Ah Si was too angry to say anything. He just stood there and glared at Dao Ming Feng. It was Xiao Zi who argued back. "We hardly know each other and both of us still haven't finished our school just yet. Give us a year to get acquainted and we will not delay the wedding again."  
  
"Stop backing up other people! I don't need your help!!"  
  
"Well, do you want to get married in 6 months? I don't! I want to finish my study, I want to get to know you, understand you! Marriage is not a 10 minute experience. It's forever!" argued Xiao Zi with her eyes bulged open in anger.  
  
Probably stunned and out of words to counter attack, Ah Si shut his mouth. Finally, he looked over to his mother, who was still waiting in the same statue like position, he nodded. "Not 6 months but a year!"  
  
Smiling, Dao Ming Feng set down her hands to her side and agreed, "Though it would be 6 months later than I ruled out for, but since the two of you agreed to be in the hand of marriage, I supposed I could accept it. Make sure there will be no more delay or problems. You may go and fetch that so called friend of yours since you already know where she is."  
  
Turning to the left and walked towards the main door, followed by her two body guards behind, she stopped for awhile a step before stepping out and add, without turning around, "Before I forgot, Zhuang, go back to US tomorrow and Ah Si, stop being to close to people who is underneath us and I don't approve of your act of mingling around poor and low standard people like her. Especially the sister thing! Break it off!"  
  
All of them kept silence and eyeing at each other, protest shown in their face. They waited until they heard her car drove out before rushing out to their own cars. Anxiously to get Shan Chai back. Lei in his own car, leading in front. Followed by Mei Zhuo and Xi Men in his car, and Xiao Zi and Ah Si in Ah Si's. Zhuang stayed behind at the mansion. 


End file.
